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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. When will it ________________ you to start?
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. snap — to click
  3. file — a line of people
  4. can — a tin
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — not warm
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. club — for golf
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. suit — in cards
  12. suit — clothes
  13. file — a document
  14. cold — an illness
  15. file — a tool
  16. suit — to fit
  17. club — a group
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. can — to be able to
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. can — a tin
  24. wake — a trail

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