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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. pound — a weight
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. capital — money
  13. lie — to recline
  14. bark — to shout
  15. capital — a city
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. bass — low music
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bass — the fish
  23. cold — an illness
  24. lash — an eyelash

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