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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. tube — a container
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. tube — the underground
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. fall — to drop
  11. swing — music
  12. lean — thin
  13. perch — the fish
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. fall — the season
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. swing — to play on
  20. fall — to drop
  21. lean — to bend
  22. swing — in golf
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bat — the animal

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