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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. wind — moving air
  3. tear — from crying
  4. present — the time now
  5. scale — size or range
  6. tear — to rip
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. present — a gift
  9. fine — all right
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. present — there
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. tear — from crying
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. snap — to click
  23. scale — in music
  24. foot — a measure

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