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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. spring — of water
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. spring — the season
  6. face — to confront
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. face — part of the head
  9. land — a country
  10. pitch — completely
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. squash — the sport
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. hand — in cards
  16. spring — a coil
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. squash — to crush
  20. branch — a division
  21. face — to point toward
  22. land — to come down
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. hand — help

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