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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. last — final
  3. bear — the animal
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. bear — the animal
  6. pit — in a race
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. chest — a box
  9. snap — to click
  10. court — for sport
  11. row — to paddle
  12. last — to go on
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. court — of a king
  15. pit — a hole
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. last — finally
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. court — of law
  20. row — a line
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — of your body

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