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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 120 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 party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. chest — of your body
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. rash — hasty
  7. pass — a permit
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. spell — letters
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. row — a line
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. spell — a short time
  15. row — to paddle
  16. chest — of your body
  17. spell — magic
  18. chest — a box

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