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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. race — the arms race
  4. game — wild animals
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. spell — a short time
  7. spell — magic
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. mine — for digging
  17. race — humankind
  18. snap — to click
  19. lean — thin
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. race — a contest
  22. lean — to bend
  23. spell — letters
  24. game — a match

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