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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. track — a path
  4. clip — a video
  5. wake — a trail
  6. fall — to drop
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. snap — to click
  9. fall — to drop
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. track — to keep track
  12. net — in sport
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. mug — a cup
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. clip — for paper
  18. net — for catching
  19. track — a song
  20. clip — to cut
  21. mug — to rob
  22. mug — a face
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. fall — the season

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