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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 120 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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. mug — a face
  3. rush — hurry
  4. snap — to click
  5. clip — a video
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. cell — a phone
  9. tear — from crying
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — to rip
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. clip — to cut
  18. row — to paddle
  19. clip — for paper
  20. row — a line
  21. mug — to rob
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. mug — a cup
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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