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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 120 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 office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. pop — music
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. wind — moving air
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. lie — to recline
  11. squash — to crush
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. pop — soda
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. pop — to visit
  16. staff — a stick
  17. squash — the sport
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. wind — moving air
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. bat — the animal
  24. staff — employees

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