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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: ground · fall · swing · snap · wake · mate · tear · drill

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. fall — the season
  4. ground — a position
  5. drill — a practice
  6. fall — to drop
  7. swing — in golf
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. ground — crushed
  12. wake — a trail
  13. mate — to breed
  14. tear — to rip
  15. mate — a friend
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — from crying
  18. snap — to click
  19. drill — army training
  20. drill — the tool
  21. swing — to play on
  22. swing — music
  23. mate — a partner
  24. ground — the earth

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