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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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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: cold · stock · saw · bat · mate · wake · straw · pass

  1. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. stock — shares
  3. mate — to breed
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. stock — goods
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. mate — a friend
  10. cold — an illness
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. saw — the tool
  18. pass — a permit
  19. bat — the animal
  20. saw — the tool
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. mate — a partner
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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