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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. squash — to crush
  4. present — a gift
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. cold — not warm
  10. squash — the sport
  11. scale — in music
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. track — a path
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. cold — an illness
  16. present — there
  17. track — to keep track
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. hand — in cards
  20. scale — size or range
  21. track — a song
  22. hand — help
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. hand — part of the body

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