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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. bat — the animal
  3. shower — rain
  4. ground — crushed
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. march — music
  8. bore — to tire
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. bore — to drill
  14. march — the month
  15. row — to paddle
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. ground — the earth
  18. perch — the fish
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. row — a line
  21. march — the month
  22. shower — to wash
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. bore — gave birth

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