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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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. key — for a lock
  3. cold — an illness
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. saw — the tool
  6. snap — to click
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. land — to come down
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. land — a country
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. cold — not warm
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. land — ground
  19. key — in music
  20. saw — the tool
  21. prune — to trim
  22. key — the most important part
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. prune — to trim

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