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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. row — to paddle
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. present — there
  12. cold — not warm
  13. branch — a division
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. sharp — clever
  16. row — a line
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. present — a gift
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. present — the time now
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. cold — an illness

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