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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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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. game — a match
  3. prune — to trim
  4. drill — a practice
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. snap — to click
  7. prune — to trim
  8. lie — to recline
  9. wax — to grow
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. squash — to crush
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. game — wild animals
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. squash — the sport
  21. drill — the tool
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. drill — army training
  24. squash — the vegetable

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