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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: snap · band · staff · game · calf · kid · clip · pit

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. staff — employees
  4. pit — in a race
  5. kid — to tease
  6. pit — a hole
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. game — wild animals
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. band — a music group
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. game — a match
  16. clip — to cut
  17. clip — for paper
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. band — a ring
  20. kid — child
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. clip — a video
  23. staff — employees
  24. staff — a stick

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