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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. fine — all right
  5. game — a match
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. shower — to wash
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. fine — high quality
  11. track — a song
  12. ground — the earth
  13. game — wild animals
  14. kid — to tease
  15. track — to keep track
  16. ground — a position
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. kid — child
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. track — a path
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. ground — crushed

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