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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. clip — to cut
  4. season — in sport
  5. wax — to grow
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. bear — the animal
  11. season — of the year
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. drill — army training
  15. bat — the animal
  16. clip — a video
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. clip — for paper
  19. bear — the animal
  20. drill — a practice
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. drill — the tool
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. temple — side of the head

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