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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 · snap · chest · scale · wake · season · prune · bat

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. chest — of your body
  5. prune — to trim
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. prune — to trim
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. season — in sport
  11. clip — for paper
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — to cut
  15. chest — a box
  16. chest — of your body
  17. snap — to click
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. season — of the year
  20. wake — a trail
  21. scale — in music
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. scale — for weighing

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