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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  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. hand — part of the body
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — moving air
  5. ground — crushed
  6. hand — in cards
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. spell — magic
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. row — a line
  17. ground — the earth
  18. row — to paddle
  19. ground — a position
  20. spell — letters
  21. spell — a short time
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. temple — a place of worship
  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