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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. snap — to click
  3. squash — the sport
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. bank — for money
  6. bass — the fish
  7. bank — for money
  8. squash — to crush
  9. bank — of a river
  10. fall — to drop
  11. clip — a video
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. chair — a leader
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. clip — for paper
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. clip — to cut
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. fall — the season
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. bass — low music

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