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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. saw — the tool
  3. spring — of water
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. file — a tool
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. snap — to click
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. saw — the tool
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. file — a document
  17. bark — to shout
  18. kick — in football
  19. jam — to spread on bread
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. spring — a coil
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. spring — the season
  24. file — a line of people

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