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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: fall · snap · track · last · march · straw · fork · net

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. snap — to click
  3. last — to go on
  4. march — the month
  5. fork — in a road
  6. last — finally
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. track — a path
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. track — a song
  12. fall — to drop
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. net — after costs
  17. net — for catching
  18. march — music
  19. fall — to drop
  20. last — final
  21. net — in sport
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. fall — the season
  24. march — the month

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