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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. net — in sport
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. wound — an injury
  9. ball — a great time
  10. content — happy
  11. race — humankind
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. net — after costs
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. net — for catching
  16. content — the amount
  17. ball — a dance
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. race — a contest
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. snap — to click
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. race — the arms race

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