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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 116 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's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. ground — a position
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. fork — in a road
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. bark — to shout
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. ground — the earth
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. ground — crushed
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. cold — an illness
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. cold — not warm

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