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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. court — for sport
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. snap — to click
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. rest — a break
  9. rest — what's left
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. clip — to cut
  13. perch — the fish
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. court — of law
  16. clip — a video
  17. date — the fruit
  18. fall — the season
  19. fall — to drop
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. court — of a king
  22. rest — what's left
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. fall — to drop

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