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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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Word bank
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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 was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. fall — to drop
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. rash — a series
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. rash — hasty
  11. fall — the season
  12. game — a match
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. game — wild animals
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. snap — to click
  18. fall — to drop
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. date — the fruit
  24. wind — moving air

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