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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. game — wild animals
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. saw — the tool
  5. ground — crushed
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. clip — to cut
  9. clip — a video
  10. ground — the earth
  11. staff — employees
  12. saw — the tool
  13. staff — employees
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. game — a match
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. ground — a position
  19. staff — a stick
  20. clip — for paper
  21. wind — moving air
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. pitcher — a jug

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