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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. game — a match
  5. file — a document
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. scale — in music
  9. tear — from crying
  10. file — a tool
  11. tear — to rip
  12. file — a line of people
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. game — wild animals
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. mark — a grade
  17. mark — a trace
  18. tear — from crying
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. scale — size or range
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. last — to go on
  23. last — final
  24. last — finally

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