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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. march — music
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. fall — the season
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. fall — to drop
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. drill — a practice
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. march — the month
  13. drill — the tool
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. drill — army training
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. fall — to drop
  19. snap — to click
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. march — the month
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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