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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. can — to be able to
  3. kid — child
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. club — for golf
  6. shower — rain
  7. shower — to wash
  8. last — final
  9. snap — to click
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. club — a group
  12. last — to go on
  13. kid — to tease
  14. rule — government
  15. club — for dancing
  16. clip — a video
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. can — a tin
  19. rule — a law
  20. last — finally
  21. clip — for paper
  22. can — a tin
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. clip — to cut

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