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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  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. snap — to click
  2. tube — a container
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. saw — the tool
  6. root — the cause
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. root — of a word
  9. saw — the tool
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — to cut
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. tube — the underground
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. bear — the animal
  20. bat — the animal
  21. root — of a plant
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bear — the animal
  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