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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. drill — the tool
  3. net — in sport
  4. fall — the season
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. net — after costs
  7. fall — to drop
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. snap — to click
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. net — for catching
  12. ground — the earth
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. sharp — clever
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. drill — a practice
  19. ground — a position
  20. fall — to drop
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. ground — crushed
  23. drill — army training
  24. fan — to cool the air

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