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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 116 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 was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. wind — moving air
  3. club — for golf
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. club — for dancing
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. cold — an illness
  11. wind — moving air
  12. cold — not warm
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. hand — help
  15. hand — in cards
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. club — a group
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. mine — for digging

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