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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. spring — the season
  3. spring — a coil
  4. mug — a face
  5. rest — a break
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. spring — of water
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. mark — a trace
  12. mug — a cup
  13. mug — to rob
  14. present — a gift
  15. bat — the animal
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. sharp — clever
  18. rest — what's left
  19. present — the time now
  20. present — there
  21. mark — a grade
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. bat — for baseball

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