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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 120 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 ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  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. pound — a weight
  2. snap — to click
  3. chest — a box
  4. row — a line
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. chest — of your body
  8. cue — for pool
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. saw — the tool
  11. clip — for paper
  12. cue — a hint
  13. saw — the tool
  14. row — to paddle
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. cue — a signal
  17. clip — a video
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. clip — to cut
  22. chest — of your body
  23. pound — for dogs
  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