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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: game · snap · fan · clip · lean · chest · last · firm

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. firm — decided
  3. lean — thin
  4. firm — a company
  5. chest — a box
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. last — final
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. firm — steady
  10. clip — to cut
  11. game — wild animals
  12. chest — of your body
  13. clip — a video
  14. game — a match
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. last — finally
  20. lean — to bend
  21. clip — for paper
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. last — to go on
  24. chest — of your body

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