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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. tear — from crying
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. date — the fruit
  7. staff — a stick
  8. tear — from crying
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. snap — to click
  13. rock — music
  14. tear — to rip
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. capital — money
  17. rock — a stone
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. spell — letters
  20. spell — a short time
  21. staff — employees
  22. capital — a city
  23. spell — magic
  24. staff — employees

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