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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: wave · bat · patient · saw · snap · row · coach · straw

  1. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. snap — to click
  5. row — a line
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. bat — the animal
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. saw — the tool
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. saw — the tool
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. row — to paddle
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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