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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. wake — a trail
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. ball — a dance
  5. kid — child
  6. cold — an illness
  7. net — after costs
  8. net — in sport
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. chip — to eat
  12. ball — a great time
  13. kid — to tease
  14. net — for catching
  15. snap — to click
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. chip — for betting
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cold — not warm

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