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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. hand — in cards
  4. snap — to click
  5. clip — a video
  6. rule — a law
  7. clip — to cut
  8. file — a tool
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. sharp — clever
  11. rule — government
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. suit — clothes
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. file — a line of people
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. hand — help
  18. suit — in cards
  19. tube — the underground
  20. clip — for paper
  21. file — a document
  22. tube — a container
  23. suit — to fit
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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