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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. race — a contest
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. key — in music
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. race — humankind
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. key — for a lock
  12. row — to paddle
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. row — a line
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. dip — to sink
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. race — the arms race
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. key — the most important part
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. bat — the animal

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