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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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. net — in sport
  3. kid — child
  4. net — for catching
  5. sharp — clever
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. march — the month
  10. snap — to click
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. march — music
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. net — after costs
  15. march — the month
  16. mate — a partner
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. mate — a friend
  21. kid — to tease
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. mate — to breed

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