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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. last — to go on
  4. rush — hurry
  5. chest — a box
  6. clip — a video
  7. last — finally
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — of your body
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. clip — to cut
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. snap — to click
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. last — final
  21. clip — for paper
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. tube — a container

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