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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. cell — a phone
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. ball — a great time
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. hand — in cards
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. hand — help
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. branch — a division
  22. snap — to click
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. cell — in biology

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