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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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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. net — after costs
  3. spring — a coil
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. file — a line of people
  6. spring — the season
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. lie — to recline
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. spring — of water
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. net — in sport
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. row — to paddle
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. file — a tool
  21. row — a line
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. net — for catching
  24. file — a document

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