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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. drill — the tool
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. fall — to drop
  6. saw — the tool
  7. drill — a practice
  8. wax — to grow
  9. shower — to wash
  10. race — the arms race
  11. shower — rain
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. fall — to drop
  15. drill — army training
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. race — humankind
  19. fall — the season
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. race — a contest

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