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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. fall — the season
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. fall — to drop
  10. spring — the season
  11. field — farmland
  12. spring — a coil
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. snap — to click
  17. field — for sport
  18. fall — to drop
  19. spring — of water
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. bass — the fish
  22. field — a subject
  23. sharp — clever
  24. bass — low music

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