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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: clip · rock · tube · mine · chest · object · game · snap

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. clip — for paper
  3. chest — of your body
  4. object — to protest
  5. clip — to cut
  6. tube — the underground
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. snap — to click
  9. clip — a video
  10. object — an aim
  11. chest — a box
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. object — a thing
  18. game — a match
  19. game — wild animals
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. mine — for digging
  22. tube — a container
  23. rock — a stone
  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