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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. tube — the underground
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. bass — low music
  7. tear — to rip
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. tube — a container
  12. spring — a coil
  13. tear — from crying
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. bass — the fish
  17. tear — from crying
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. ball — a dance
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. spring — of water
  22. spring — the season
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. cabinet — ministers

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