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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. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. mine — for digging
  5. shower — to wash
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. bear — the animal
  8. file — a line of people
  9. wake — a trail
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. mark — a trace
  15. file — a document
  16. clip — for paper
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. shower — rain
  19. clip — a video
  20. file — a tool
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. clip — to cut
  23. mark — a grade
  24. wake — before a funeral

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