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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: mate · straw · net · bat · saw · wake · firm · spell

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. net — for catching
  4. mate — a partner
  5. firm — a company
  6. spell — letters
  7. firm — decided
  8. net — in sport
  9. firm — steady
  10. saw — the tool
  11. bat — the animal
  12. mate — to breed
  13. saw — the tool
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. mate — a friend
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. spell — a short time
  19. wake — a trail
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. spell — magic
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. net — after costs
  24. bat — in an idiom

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