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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 116 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: snap · mate · press · wake · track · hand · kid · pound

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. snap — to click
  4. track — to keep track
  5. press — a publisher
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. mate — a friend
  8. kid — to tease
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. press — to push
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. hand — in cards
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. track — a path
  15. mate — to breed
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. mate — a partner
  20. press — newspapers
  21. kid — child
  22. wake — a trail
  23. pound — a weight
  24. track — a song

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