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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. bat — the animal
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. cap — a lid
  7. scale — size or range
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. rash — hasty
  10. key — the most important part
  11. saw — the tool
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. rash — a series
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. scale — in music
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. key — for a lock
  19. cap — a hat
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. saw — the tool
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. cap — of ice
  24. key — in music

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