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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fall — to drop
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. scale — size or range
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. cold — an illness
  13. wound — an injury
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. ball — a dance
  16. bore — to drill
  17. bore — to tire
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. wound — an injury
  20. scale — in music
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. cold — not warm
  24. ball — a great time

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