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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 116 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. face — to point toward
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. game — a match
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. face — part of the head
  10. wound — an injury
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. face — to confront
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. kick — in football
  17. wound — an injury
  18. game — wild animals

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