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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 116 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 had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. drill — a practice
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. swing — to play on
  5. row — a line
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. swing — music
  9. row — to paddle
  10. scale — in music
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. swing — in golf
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. drill — army training
  16. wake — a trail
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. drill — the tool
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. scale — size or range
  22. fall — to drop
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fall — the season

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