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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. rule — a law
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. cold — not warm
  7. bulb — for light
  8. bass — the fish
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. last — final
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. last — finally
  13. wound — an injury
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. bass — low music
  19. rule — government
  20. bulb — for light
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wind — moving air
  23. last — to go on
  24. wind — to turn a key

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