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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. mark — a grade
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. tear — from crying
  8. scale — size or range
  9. tear — to rip
  10. bulb — for light
  11. mark — a trace
  12. bulb — for light
  13. cue — a hint
  14. cold — not warm
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. saw — the tool
  17. cue — a signal
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cue — for pool
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. tear — from crying
  23. saw — the tool
  24. scale — in music

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