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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. spell — magic
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. spell — a short time
  6. fall — to drop
  7. game — a match
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. charge — a price
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. bank — of a river
  12. bank — for money
  13. tear — from crying
  14. charge — electricity
  15. tear — from crying
  16. spell — letters
  17. fall — the season
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. bat — the animal
  20. charge — in control
  21. game — wild animals
  22. bank — for money
  23. fall — to drop
  24. tear — to rip

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