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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 water is too ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. spring — the season
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. can — a tin
  7. land — a country
  8. saw — the tool
  9. bank — of a river
  10. spring — a coil
  11. bank — for money
  12. land — ground
  13. land — to come down
  14. cold — an illness
  15. saw — the tool
  16. spring — of water
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. can — to be able to
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bank — for money
  21. can — a tin
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. straw — dry grass

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