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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. When will it ________________ you to start?
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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. kid — to tease
  3. suit — in cards
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. face — to point toward
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. kid — child
  9. face — part of the head
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. suit — to fit
  14. snap — to click
  15. chest — a box
  16. suit — clothes
  17. band — a music group
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. face — to confront
  20. band — a ring
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. chest — of your body
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. chest — of your body

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