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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. pop — to visit
  3. spring — of water
  4. squash — to crush
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. bank — of a river
  7. pop — music
  8. mark — a grade
  9. mark — a trace
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. spring — a coil
  12. bank — for money
  13. court — of law
  14. clip — for paper
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. squash — the sport
  17. snap — to click
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. clip — a video
  20. spring — the season
  21. bank — for money
  22. court — for sport
  23. pop — soda
  24. court — of a king

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