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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. clip — to cut
  3. fall — to drop
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. clip — a video
  8. snap — to click
  9. chest — of your body
  10. rock — a stone
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. clip — for paper
  14. wake — a trail
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. saw — the tool
  17. saw — the tool
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. rock — music
  22. fall — to drop
  23. fall — the season
  24. chest — a box

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