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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · lie · cold · bass · snap · patient · pitcher · file

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. file — a line of people
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. snap — to click
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. lie — to recline
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. bass — the fish
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. bass — low music
  15. file — a document
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. cold — not warm
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. file — a tool
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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