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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. kid — to tease
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. mate — a friend
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. board — a committee
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. kid — child
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. mate — to breed
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. wake — a trail
  17. board — to get on
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. mate — a partner
  23. snap — to click
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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