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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. clip — to cut
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. row — to paddle
  7. file — a line of people
  8. file — a tool
  9. hand — in cards
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. pit — a hole
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. row — a line
  14. file — a document
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. drill — a practice
  17. pit — in a race
  18. drill — the tool
  19. clip — a video
  20. hand — help
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. drill — army training
  23. clip — for paper
  24. snap — to click

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