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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 124 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. clip — for paper
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. bat — the animal
  9. current — electric
  10. face — part of the head
  11. clip — a video
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. face — to confront
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. current — happening now
  17. hand — in cards
  18. rash — hasty
  19. rash — a series
  20. snap — to click
  21. clip — to cut
  22. current — of water
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. face — to point toward

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