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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 120 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: clip · chair · snap · wake · rush · kid · mark · fall

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  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. fall — to drop
  2. kid — child
  3. chair — a leader
  4. rush — hurry
  5. mark — a grade
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. mark — a trace
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — a video
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. wake — a trail
  13. kid — to tease
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. fall — to drop
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. fall — the season
  22. snap — to click
  23. clip — for paper
  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