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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. content — happy
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. drill — a practice
  7. content — the amount
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. kick — in football
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. bat — the animal
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. season — in sport
  14. snap — to click
  15. season — of the year
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. drill — army training
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. wake — a trail
  23. drill — the tool
  24. season — to add flavour

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