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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. perch — the fish
  3. chest — a box
  4. ground — crushed
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. ground — a position
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. chest — of your body
  9. prune — to trim
  10. wind — moving air
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. chest — of your body
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. wind — moving air
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. rush — hurry
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. prune — to trim
  23. ground — the earth
  24. date — the fruit

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