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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. When will it ________________ you to start?
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — an illness
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. wound — an injury
  6. suit — to fit
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. fall — to drop
  11. suit — in cards
  12. band — a ring
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. suit — clothes
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. fall — the season
  17. band — a music group
  18. wound — an injury
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. snap — to click
  24. fall — to drop

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