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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. last — finally
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. rule — a law
  6. tear — from crying
  7. bat — the animal
  8. rule — government
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. drill — the tool
  11. drill — army training
  12. track — a song
  13. track — a path
  14. tear — from crying
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. tear — to rip
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. drill — a practice
  20. last — to go on
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. last — final
  24. track — to keep track

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