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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 got himself in a ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. snap — to click
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. capital — money
  8. last — to go on
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. clip — a video
  12. clip — to cut
  13. clip — for paper
  14. capital — a city
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. rash — a series
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. chair — a leader
  20. rash — hasty
  21. last — finally
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. last — final

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