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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: coach · pit · face · bear · bat · clip · row · snap

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. clip — to cut
  3. pit — in a race
  4. clip — a video
  5. clip — for paper
  6. face — to point toward
  7. row — to paddle
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. row — a line
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. face — part of the head
  13. snap — to click
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. pit — a hole
  17. bear — the animal
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. face — to confront
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. bat — the animal

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