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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. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. fall — to drop
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. fall — the season
  7. tear — to rip
  8. wind — moving air
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. foot — a measure
  13. ball — a dance
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. tear — from crying
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. ball — a great time
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. tear — from crying
  21. fall — to drop
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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