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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. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. mug — a face
  3. mug — to rob
  4. game — a match
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. snap — to click
  7. mug — a cup
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. drill — the tool
  11. drill — army training
  12. content — happy
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. game — wild animals
  18. rash — a series
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. safe — a strongbox
  22. rash — hasty
  23. drill — a practice
  24. content — the amount

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