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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. roll — a cake
  3. race — humankind
  4. swing — in golf
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. file — a document
  9. roll — a list
  10. race — a contest
  11. file — a tool
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. kick — in football
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. swing — music
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. swing — to play on
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. file — a line of people
  23. race — the arms race
  24. roll — on a roll

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