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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 120 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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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. chest — a box
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. clip — for paper
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. chest — of your body
  8. scale — size or range
  9. current — of water
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. fine — high quality
  12. chest — of your body
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. snap — to click
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — a video
  17. current — happening now
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. fine — all right
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. wake — a trail
  23. scale — in music
  24. current — electric

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