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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 120 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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. fall — to drop
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. cell — in biology
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. fall — to drop
  10. perch — the fish
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. mate — to breed
  14. capital — money
  15. fall — the season
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. capital — a city
  21. cell — a phone
  22. mate — a partner
  23. plane — a tool
  24. dip — to sink

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