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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: plane · racket · clip · tear · current · bank · chest · snap

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. snap — to click
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. chest — of your body
  6. clip — to cut
  7. chest — a box
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. tear — from crying
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. current — electric
  14. current — of water
  15. tear — from crying
  16. bank — for money
  17. bank — of a river
  18. plane — a tool
  19. clip — for paper
  20. chest — of your body
  21. bank — for money
  22. tear — to rip
  23. clip — a video
  24. current — happening now

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