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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: pound · cabinet · clip · court · dip · file · chest · snap

  1. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. court — of a king
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. file — a tool
  5. snap — to click
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. chest — of your body
  8. file — a line of people
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. clip — to cut
  11. court — for sport
  12. dip — to sink
  13. clip — for paper
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. chest — a box
  16. pound — a weight
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. clip — a video
  19. court — of law
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. chest — of your body
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. file — a document

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