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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. rash — a series
  4. chest — of your body
  5. bound — obliged
  6. rock — a stone
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. game — wild animals
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. bound — certain
  15. chest — a box
  16. game — a match
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. bound — tied together
  19. rash — hasty
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. rock — music
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. chest — of your body
  24. straw — dry grass

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