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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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. snap — to click
  3. swing — music
  4. chest — of your body
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. swing — to play on
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. chest — a box
  10. bat — the animal
  11. squash — the sport
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. mug — a cup
  14. squash — to crush
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. chest — of your body
  20. swing — in golf
  21. mug — to rob
  22. rock — a stone
  23. mug — a face
  24. rock — music

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