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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 120 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: lean · wake · hand · kick · snap · perch · straw · tube

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. snap — to click
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. hand — help
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. tube — the underground
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. lean — to bend
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. kick — in football
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. perch — the fish
  20. hand — in cards
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. tube — a container
  23. wake — a trail
  24. lean — thin

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