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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. mug — a cup
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. cold — an illness
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. net — in sport
  9. mug — a face
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. snap — to click
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. net — after costs
  18. cold — not warm
  19. mug — to rob
  20. march — the month
  21. march — music
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. march — the month
  24. net — for catching

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