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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. squash — the sport
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. wake — a trail
  6. cold — not warm
  7. snap — to click
  8. plane — a tool
  9. squash — to crush
  10. cold — an illness
  11. march — the month
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. march — the month
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. march — music
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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