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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  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. cabinet — ministers
  2. march — the month
  3. lean — to bend
  4. snap — to click
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. mine — for digging
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. march — music
  20. lean — thin
  21. bat — the animal
  22. march — the month
  23. straw — a straw man
  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