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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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. rule — government
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. spring — of water
  5. wound — an injury
  6. tear — from crying
  7. chest — of your body
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. rule — a law
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. race — humankind
  13. race — a contest
  14. chest — of your body
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — to rip
  17. chest — a box
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. spring — a coil
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. race — the arms race
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. spring — the season

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