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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: bat · chair · snap · content · bass · straw · net · lash

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. snap — to click
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. bass — the fish
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. content — happy
  8. net — in sport
  9. bat — the animal
  10. content — the amount
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. net — after costs
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. net — for catching
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. chair — a leader
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bass — low music
  24. lash — to lash out

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