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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. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. snap — to click
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. object — a thing
  6. chair — a leader
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. field — for sport
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. field — farmland
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. shower — rain
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. shower — to wash
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. object — to protest
  23. field — a subject
  24. object — an aim

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