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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. mate — to breed
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. court — of law
  7. court — of a king
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. court — for sport
  10. roll — a list
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. mate — a friend
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. mate — a partner
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. bat — the animal
  17. roll — a cake
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. branch — a division
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. hide — animal skin

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