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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 116 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: bat · ball · clip · wake · snap · file · hide · cap

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. cap — a hat
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. file — a line of people
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. cap — of ice
  7. clip — a video
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. file — a document
  11. clip — to cut
  12. wake — a trail
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. ball — a dance
  15. snap — to click
  16. file — a tool
  17. cap — a lid
  18. ball — a great time
  19. clip — for paper
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. bat — the animal
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. hide — to keep secret

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