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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: clip · snap · sharp · rest · file · content · root · safe

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. rest — a break
  3. snap — to click
  4. sharp — clever
  5. clip — for paper
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. clip — to cut
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. content — the amount
  10. safe — a strongbox
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. clip — a video
  13. root — of a word
  14. file — a line of people
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. root — of a plant
  17. rest — what's left
  18. rest — what's left
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. root — the cause
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a tool

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