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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. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. rock — a stone
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. track — a path
  8. cue — a hint
  9. track — to keep track
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. bark — to shout
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. cue — for pool
  14. spring — a coil
  15. rock — music
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. spring — of water
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. spring — the season
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. cue — a signal
  23. track — a song
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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