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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 party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. rash — hasty
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. bat — the animal
  5. march — the month
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. tube — the underground
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. march — music
  16. tube — a container
  17. game — wild animals
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. jam — to spread on bread
  22. march — the month
  23. game — a match
  24. bat — in an idiom

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