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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. rash — hasty
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. mate — to breed
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. bass — the fish
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — for paper
  16. rash — a series
  17. clip — a video
  18. shower — rain
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. mate — a partner
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. bass — low music
  24. mate — a friend

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