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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. clip — for paper
  3. pop — music
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. squash — the sport
  6. pop — to visit
  7. snap — to click
  8. clip — to cut
  9. face — to confront
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. mark — a grade
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. face — to point toward
  18. face — part of the head
  19. clip — a video
  20. pop — soda
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. mark — a trace

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