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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. drill — a practice
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. rush — hurry
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. band — a music group
  10. spell — magic
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. drill — the tool
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. band — a ring
  17. spell — a short time
  18. wind — moving air
  19. stem — to come from
  20. spell — letters
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. drill — army training
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. sharp — clever

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