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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 120 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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. key — the most important part
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. cold — an illness
  11. season — of the year
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. bark — to shout
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. wound — an injury
  18. key — in music
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. wound — an injury
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. season — in sport
  23. cold — not warm
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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