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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: vault · clip · bat · kick · can · snap · band · face

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. can — a tin
  3. kick — in football
  4. can — to be able to
  5. face — to confront
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. snap — to click
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. band — a music group
  11. vault — a safe
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. face — part of the head
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. can — a tin
  16. clip — a video
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. band — a ring
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. clip — to cut
  23. clip — for paper
  24. bat — the animal

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