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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. object — an aim
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. net — for catching
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. row — a line
  8. row — to paddle
  9. net — after costs
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. shower — to wash
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. content — happy
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. content — the amount
  16. net — in sport
  17. object — a thing
  18. object — to protest
  19. shower — rain
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. pound — a weight
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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