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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. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. ball — a great time
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. ball — a dance
  7. drill — a practice
  8. kick — in football
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. drill — army training
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. cold — an illness
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. drill — the tool
  18. chip — for betting
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. bark — to shout
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. chip — to eat

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