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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. object — an aim
  3. tear — to rip
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. spell — a short time
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. pit — a hole
  10. spell — magic
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. pit — in a race
  14. tear — from crying
  15. object — to protest
  16. object — a thing
  17. fall — to drop
  18. mine — for digging
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. tear — from crying
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. fall — the season
  23. fall — to drop
  24. mine — an explosive

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