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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. lean — to bend
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. wake — a trail
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. squash — to crush
  7. rash — hasty
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. clip — for paper
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. rash — a series
  12. squash — the sport
  13. clip — to cut
  14. lean — thin
  15. roll — a cake
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. ruler — a monarch
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. roll — a list
  24. clip — a video

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