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

Word bank: jam · snap · bat · straw · key · land · lash · cell

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. key — the most important part
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. key — in music
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. land — to come down
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. cell — a phone
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. bat — the animal
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. land — a country
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. cell — in biology
  22. key — for a lock
  23. land — ground
  24. jam — a tight spot

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