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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: bulb · clip · kid · sharp · rash · wake · snap · tear

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. tear — to rip
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. rash — hasty
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — to cut
  11. kid — child
  12. sharp — clever
  13. snap — to click
  14. tear — from crying
  15. rash — a series
  16. bulb — for light
  17. bulb — for light
  18. clip — for paper
  19. tear — from crying
  20. wake — a trail
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. kid — to tease
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. bulb — of a plant

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