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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. clip — to cut
  3. chair — a leader
  4. pop — music
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. pitch — completely
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. track — a path
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. snap — to click
  14. clip — for paper
  15. track — a song
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. scale — size or range
  18. pop — to visit
  19. track — to keep track
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. clip — a video
  22. scale — in music
  23. pop — soda
  24. pitch — a sports field

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