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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: club · snap · mark · row · clip · bulb · chest · coach

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. bulb — for light
  4. club — for golf
  5. chest — of your body
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. mark — a trace
  8. row — a line
  9. mark — a grade
  10. snap — to click
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. clip — for paper
  14. club — for dancing
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — a video
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. club — a group
  19. bulb — for light
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. chest — a box
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. chest — of your body
  24. row — to paddle

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