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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. net — for catching
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. mate — a partner
  5. snap — to click
  6. cold — an illness
  7. lie — to recline
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. track — a path
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. mate — to breed
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. saw — the tool
  15. cold — not warm
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. net — after costs
  19. track — to keep track
  20. track — a song
  21. mate — a friend
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. saw — the tool
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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