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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. chair — a leader
  5. bass — low music
  6. bass — the fish
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. rash — a series
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. craft — a skill
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. drill — a practice
  14. drill — army training
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. drill — the tool
  18. craft — boats
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. rash — hasty
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. snap — to click

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