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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. court — of a king
  9. race — a contest
  10. court — for sport
  11. court — of law
  12. present — there
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. toast — bread
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. kid — to tease
  18. kid — child
  19. present — the time now
  20. present — a gift
  21. race — humankind
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. race — the arms race
  24. wax — to grow

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