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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. shower — rain
  5. fine — high quality
  6. cap — a lid
  7. chest — of your body
  8. fine — all right
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. shower — to wash
  13. pass — a permit
  14. wound — an injury
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. chest — a box
  17. cap — a hat
  18. saw — the tool
  19. chest — of your body
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. wound — an injury
  24. saw — the tool

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