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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: snap · wake · charge · straw · saw · field · fall · pop

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. charge — a price
  3. fall — the season
  4. wake — a trail
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. fall — to drop
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. pop — soda
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. pop — to visit
  11. field — a subject
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. saw — the tool
  14. saw — the tool
  15. charge — electricity
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. snap — to click
  19. field — farmland
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. charge — in control
  22. pop — music
  23. field — for sport
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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