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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 116 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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. wind — moving air
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. row — to paddle
  6. race — the arms race
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. vault — a safe
  12. row — a line
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. wind — moving air
  15. race — a contest
  16. race — humankind
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. tube — a container
  21. saw — the tool
  22. tube — the underground
  23. saw — the tool
  24. bat — for baseball

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