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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. ground — crushed
  5. mate — a friend
  6. bear — the animal
  7. chest — a box
  8. ground — the earth
  9. wake — a trail
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. chest — of your body
  12. march — the month
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. band — a music group
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. march — the month
  18. chest — of your body
  19. bear — the animal
  20. march — music
  21. ground — a position
  22. mate — to breed
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. mate — a partner

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