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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 124 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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. wind — moving air
  4. fall — the season
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. fall — to drop
  8. wind — moving air
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. clip — for paper
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. kid — to tease
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — a video
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. kid — child
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. fall — to drop
  24. lie — to recline

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