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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. face — part of the head
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. wind — moving air
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. face — to point toward
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. cold — not warm
  13. bulb — for light
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. wind — moving air
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. face — to confront
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. bulb — for light
  21. pitch — completely
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. cold — an illness
  24. bark — to shout

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