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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 · bat · lie · snap · sharp · prune · chest · clip

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  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. game — wild animals
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. chest — of your body
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. lie — to recline
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. clip — for paper
  12. prune — to trim
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. prune — to trim
  16. sharp — clever
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. snap — to click
  19. clip — to cut
  20. clip — a video
  21. chest — a box
  22. game — a match
  23. lie — an untruth
  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