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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. sharp — clever
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. snap — to click
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. bat — the animal
  8. object — to protest
  9. mark — a grade
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. mark — a trace
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. kick — in football
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. object — a thing
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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