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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. present — the time now
  3. fall — to drop
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. tear — to rip
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. tear — from crying
  10. fall — to drop
  11. present — a gift
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. shower — to wash
  14. game — wild animals
  15. scale — in music
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. snap — to click
  18. shower — rain
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. tear — from crying
  21. present — there
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. fall — the season
  24. game — a match

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