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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: pound · swing · bank · clip · snap · kid · spell · temple

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. clip — for paper
  3. swing — music
  4. swing — to play on
  5. bank — for money
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. kid — child
  8. clip — a video
  9. kid — to tease
  10. clip — to cut
  11. swing — in golf
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. spell — letters
  17. pound — a weight
  18. spell — magic
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. bank — of a river
  21. bank — for money
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. spell — a short time
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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