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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. cold — an illness
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. chip — for betting
  5. bass — low music
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. pit — in a race
  8. pit — a hole
  9. snap — to click
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. bass — the fish
  12. tear — from crying
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. wake — a trail
  19. cold — not warm
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — to rip
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. chip — to eat
  24. wake — before a funeral

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