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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. spring — a coil
  4. mate — a partner
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. ground — crushed
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. mate — a friend
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. rash — a series
  13. spring — of water
  14. ground — the earth
  15. bat — the animal
  16. rash — hasty
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. spring — the season
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. ground — a position
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. straw — a straw man

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