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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. chest — a box
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. roll — a cake
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. saw — the tool
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. perch — the fish
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. shower — to wash
  13. shower — rain
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. chest — of your body
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. sharp — clever
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. roll — a list
  21. mine — for digging
  22. saw — the tool
  23. chest — of your body
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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