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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: snap · bowl · content · clip · game · cell · fall · mug

  1. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. content — the amount
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. fall — to drop
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cell — a phone
  9. mug — a cup
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. clip — to cut
  14. fall — the season
  15. cell — in biology
  16. content — happy
  17. clip — a video
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. snap — to click
  20. mug — to rob
  21. game — a match
  22. clip — for paper
  23. fall — to drop
  24. game — wild animals

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