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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: pop · kid · cabinet · snap · wake · straw · present · squash

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. snap — to click
  4. kid — to tease
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. pop — soda
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. pop — to visit
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. wake — a trail
  14. squash — the sport
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. present — the time now
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. pop — music
  20. present — a gift
  21. kid — child
  22. squash — to crush
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. cabinet — ministers

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