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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. last — finally
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. bass — the fish
  5. spring — of water
  6. pit — in a race
  7. spring — the season
  8. rock — music
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. pit — a hole
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. spring — a coil
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. last — to go on
  16. bass — low music
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. rock — a stone

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