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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. clip — a video
  6. tear — from crying
  7. snap — to click
  8. clip — for paper
  9. band — a ring
  10. clip — to cut
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. tube — a container
  13. squash — to crush
  14. squash — the sport
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. band — a music group
  18. sharp — clever
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. tear — to rip
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tube — the underground

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