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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. clip — for paper
  3. track — to keep track
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. clip — to cut
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. lean — to bend
  9. snap — to click
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. lean — thin
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. bat — the animal
  15. track — a song
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. track — a path
  21. clip — a video
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. kick — in football

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com