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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. land — a country
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. fall — to drop
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. mate — to breed
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. land — ground
  10. pop — soda
  11. land — to come down
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. pop — to visit
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. cold — not warm
  16. mate — a partner
  17. sharp — clever
  18. pop — music
  19. fall — to drop
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — an illness
  23. mate — a friend
  24. fall — the season

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