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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. spring — the season
  3. current — happening now
  4. kick — in football
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. stock — goods
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. spring — of water
  9. stock — shares
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. cold — not warm
  13. spring — a coil
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. current — electric
  16. cold — an illness
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. perch — the fish
  22. current — of water
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. perch — for a bird

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