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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. clip — a video
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. lean — to bend
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. rest — a break
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. row — a line
  13. rest — what's left
  14. clip — to cut
  15. rest — what's left
  16. ball — a dance
  17. row — to paddle
  18. ball — a great time
  19. kid — child
  20. lean — thin
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. kid — to tease
  23. clip — for paper
  24. lean — to rest against

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