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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 120 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: bank · bat · clip · wake · snap · pit · cell · face

  1. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. snap — to click
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. clip — for paper
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. clip — a video
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. pit — in a race
  9. cell — a phone
  10. wake — a trail
  11. face — part of the head
  12. clip — to cut
  13. bank — for money
  14. face — to point toward
  15. bank — of a river
  16. face — to confront
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. cell — in biology
  19. pit — a hole
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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