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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 116 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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. mine — for digging
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. march — the month
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. march — music
  11. last — to go on
  12. last — final
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. pop — music
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. last — finally
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. pop — soda
  21. pop — to visit
  22. march — the month
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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