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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. tear — from crying
  3. spell — a short time
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. pop — to visit
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. band — a music group
  8. pit — in a race
  9. pit — a hole
  10. pop — music
  11. band — a ring
  12. snap — to click
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — to rip
  17. spell — letters
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. pop — soda
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. spell — magic

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