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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. snap — to click
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. mine — for digging
  6. press — to push
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. cell — a phone
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. mark — a grade
  18. mark — a trace
  19. cell — in biology
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. press — a publisher
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. press — newspapers

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