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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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468
Word bank
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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. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. wound — an injury
  5. tear — from crying
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. dip — to sink
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. mug — to rob
  12. tear — from crying
  13. wound — an injury
  14. cap — a lid
  15. mug — a cup
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. tear — to rip
  18. cap — of ice
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. cap — a hat
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. mug — a face

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