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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 116 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. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. mark — a trace
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. wake — a trail
  8. pit — a hole
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. mark — a grade
  11. rule — a law
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. file — a line of people
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. pit — in a race
  21. rule — government
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a tool

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