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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. shower — rain
  3. net — for catching
  4. net — after costs
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. file — a tool
  9. lean — to bend
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. cap — of ice
  13. shower — to wash
  14. file — a document
  15. cap — a hat
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. net — in sport
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. file — a line of people
  21. lean — thin
  22. cap — a lid
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. wake — a trail

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