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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: stick · bat · clip · court · snap · rush · mug · drill

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. court — for sport
  3. clip — to cut
  4. court — of law
  5. clip — a video
  6. mug — a cup
  7. snap — to click
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. mug — a face
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. drill — army training
  13. clip — for paper
  14. court — of a king
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. mug — to rob
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. drill — the tool
  19. drill — a practice
  20. bat — the animal
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. rush — a thrill

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