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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: snap · clip · patient · track · spring · saw · scale · hide

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. track — a path
  3. scale — in music
  4. spring — of water
  5. scale — size or range
  6. saw — the tool
  7. clip — for paper
  8. track — a song
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. clip — to cut
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. clip — a video
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. spring — a coil
  20. saw — the tool
  21. spring — the season
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. track — to keep track

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