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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. rash — hasty
  3. net — in sport
  4. mate — a friend
  5. snap — to click
  6. net — after costs
  7. drill — the tool
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. wind — moving air
  10. mate — a partner
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. drill — army training
  14. net — for catching
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. wind — moving air
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. mate — to breed
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. rash — a series
  24. drill — a practice

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