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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 116 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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. pop — to visit
  4. lie — to recline
  5. field — a subject
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. root — of a word
  10. ground — the earth
  11. ground — crushed
  12. season — in sport
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. ground — a position
  15. field — farmland
  16. pop — soda
  17. scale — size or range
  18. root — the cause
  19. pop — music
  20. field — for sport
  21. root — of a plant
  22. scale — in music
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. season — of the year

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