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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: snap · straw · hide · roll · sharp · file · clip · shower

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. clip — for paper
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. file — a tool
  5. roll — a cake
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. clip — a video
  11. file — a document
  12. sharp — clever
  13. shower — to wash
  14. snap — to click
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. shower — rain
  17. file — a line of people
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. roll — a list
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. hide — to keep secret

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