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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 120 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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. sharp — clever
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. row — to paddle
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. bound — tied together
  10. clip — to cut
  11. bound — obliged
  12. wake — a trail
  13. row — a line
  14. bound — certain
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. clip — for paper
  17. squash — the sport
  18. squash — to crush
  19. ground — the earth
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. ground — crushed
  23. clip — a video
  24. wake — before a funeral

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