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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. hand — help
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. fall — to drop
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. row — a line
  9. drill — army training
  10. hand — in cards
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. drill — the tool
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. drill — a practice
  16. row — to paddle
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fall — the season
  19. vault — a safe
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. mine — for digging

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