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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. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. fall — to drop
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. cold — an illness
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. fall — to drop
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. fall — the season
  13. cold — not warm
  14. row — to paddle
  15. ground — the earth
  16. roll — a list
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. ground — crushed
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. roll — a cake
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. row — a line
  24. ground — a position

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