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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. chest — of your body
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. perch — the fish
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. last — to go on
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. chest — of your body
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. last — finally
  14. kick — in football
  15. net — after costs
  16. chest — a box
  17. net — in sport
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. wake — a trail
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. net — for catching

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