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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. tube — the underground
  5. fall — to drop
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. snap — to click
  9. row — a line
  10. rule — a law
  11. row — to paddle
  12. fall — the season
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. chest — of your body
  15. rule — government
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. chest — a box
  18. game — wild animals
  19. tube — a container
  20. game — a match
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. chest — of your body
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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