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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: snap · rest · tube · chair · clip · wax · mark · bat

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. rest — a break
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. clip — to cut
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. wax — to grow
  7. clip — for paper
  8. rest — what's left
  9. clip — a video
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. mark — a grade
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. rest — what's left
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. chair — a leader
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. bat — the animal
  19. snap — to click
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. mark — a trace
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. tube — the underground

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