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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. present — a gift
  3. rock — music
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. pass — a permit
  9. present — the time now
  10. cell — in biology
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. game — wild animals
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. cell — a phone
  17. rock — a stone
  18. shower — rain
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. foot — a measure
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. game — a match
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. shower — to wash

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