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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: pit · craft · swing · fall · bear · clip · snap · row

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. swing — music
  4. clip — for paper
  5. pit — a hole
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. snap — to click
  8. row — a line
  9. bear — the animal
  10. craft — a skill
  11. clip — a video
  12. bear — the animal
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. clip — to cut
  15. row — to paddle
  16. pit — in a race
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. craft — boats
  20. fall — to drop
  21. swing — in golf
  22. swing — to play on
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fall — the season

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