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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. roll — a cake
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. roll — a list
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. snap — to click
  13. cold — not warm
  14. game — a match
  15. pit — in a race
  16. game — wild animals
  17. pit — a hole
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. foot — a measure
  21. cold — an illness
  22. perch — the fish
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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