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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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Word bank
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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: clip · snap · drill · content · game · wax · bat · chair

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. bat — the animal
  5. game — a match
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. clip — for paper
  8. drill — the tool
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. snap — to click
  11. clip — to cut
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. content — the amount
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. chair — a leader
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. drill — army training
  18. game — wild animals
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. clip — a video
  21. drill — a practice
  22. content — happy
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. wax — to grow

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