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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. wind — moving air
  3. ground — a position
  4. wind — moving air
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. drill — a practice
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. firm — a company
  14. drill — the tool
  15. spring — the season
  16. firm — decided
  17. spring — a coil
  18. drill — army training
  19. firm — steady
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. bat — the animal
  22. ground — the earth
  23. spring — of water
  24. ground — crushed

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