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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 116 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: row · clip · ground · lie · stick · snap · current · content

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. ground — a position
  4. clip — a video
  5. row — a line
  6. clip — to cut
  7. ground — the earth
  8. clip — for paper
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. lie — to recline
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. content — happy
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. content — the amount
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. current — electric
  17. current — of water
  18. ground — crushed
  19. current — happening now
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. row — to paddle
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. lie — an untruth

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