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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. shower — rain
  4. wind — moving air
  5. stock — shares
  6. current — of water
  7. wind — moving air
  8. tear — to rip
  9. tear — from crying
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. current — happening now
  13. shower — to wash
  14. row — a line
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. tear — from crying
  17. current — electric
  18. mine — for digging
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. row — to paddle
  23. stock — goods
  24. wind — to turn a key

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