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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. bound — certain
  4. wind — moving air
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. present — the time now
  7. fall — the season
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. present — there
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. wind — moving air
  12. fall — to drop
  13. fall — to drop
  14. squash — to crush
  15. squash — the sport
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. field — a subject
  18. bound — tied together
  19. field — farmland
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. field — for sport
  23. bound — obliged
  24. present — a gift

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