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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: cabinet · face · clip · snap · rash · kid · rest · toast

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. snap — to click
  3. kid — to tease
  4. clip — to cut
  5. toast — bread
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. rash — a series
  8. rest — what's left
  9. face — to point toward
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. kid — child
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. rash — hasty
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. face — to confront
  19. clip — a video
  20. rest — a break
  21. rest — what's left
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. clip — for paper
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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