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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. chest — a box
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. fall — the season
  6. bass — low music
  7. fall — to drop
  8. last — final
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. chest — of your body
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. cell — in biology
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. last — finally
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. fall — to drop
  17. chest — of your body
  18. plane — a tool
  19. tear — to rip
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — from crying
  22. last — to go on
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. cell — a phone

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