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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. drill — a practice
  3. track — to keep track
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. spring — of water
  10. branch — a division
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. spring — the season
  15. drill — the tool
  16. cold — not warm
  17. deal — to handle
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. track — a song
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. spring — a coil
  22. track — a path
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. drill — army training

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