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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. saw — the tool
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. season — in sport
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. saw — the tool
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. row — to paddle
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. march — music
  16. row — a line
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. band — a ring
  19. season — of the year
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. band — a music group
  23. march — the month
  24. march — the month

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