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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 116 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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. mine — for digging
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. spring — of water
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. drill — the tool
  11. sharp — clever
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. drill — a practice
  15. spring — the season
  16. mate — a friend
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. mate — to breed
  19. kick — in football
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. mate — a partner
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. drill — army training
  24. spring — a coil

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