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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: clip · snap · net · cold · pit · straw · lie · craft

  1. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. clip — a video
  3. cold — not warm
  4. pit — a hole
  5. cold — an illness
  6. clip — to cut
  7. net — for catching
  8. lie — to recline
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. craft — a skill
  13. clip — for paper
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. net — after costs
  20. pit — in a race
  21. snap — to click
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. net — in sport
  24. craft — boats

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