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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 116 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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. wind — moving air
  3. track — to keep track
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. firm — a company
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. staff — employees
  8. wind — moving air
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. sharp — clever
  11. staff — a stick
  12. hand — in cards
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. hand — help
  15. track — a path
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — an injury
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. track — a song
  21. staff — employees
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. firm — decided
  24. firm — steady

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