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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. snap — to click
  4. spring — of water
  5. cap — of ice
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. cap — a lid
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. land — to come down
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. land — ground
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. cap — a hat
  16. cue — a signal
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spring — the season
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. land — a country
  21. cue — for pool
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. cue — a hint
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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