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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. court — of a king
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. tear — from crying
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. court — of law
  14. tear — from crying
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. court — for sport
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. rush — hurry
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. date — the fruit
  22. wound — an injury
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. tear — to rip

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