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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. wind — moving air
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. sharp — clever
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. bat — the animal
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. game — wild animals
  14. march — music
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. march — the month
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. march — the month
  22. game — a match
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. leaves — to go away

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