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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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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: straw · net · snap · wake · pitch · trunk · bass · land

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. land — ground
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. net — in sport
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. net — after costs
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. net — for catching
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. wake — a trail
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. bass — low music
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. pitch — completely
  22. bass — the fish
  23. land — a country
  24. land — to come down

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