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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. bat — the animal
  4. charge — in control
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. clip — for paper
  8. charge — a price
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. row — a line
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. wake — a trail
  14. clip — a video
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. snap — to click
  17. rule — a law
  18. clip — to cut
  19. row — to paddle
  20. stem — to come from
  21. charge — electricity
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. rule — government
  24. rule — to rule out

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