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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. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. court — of law
  6. rush — hurry
  7. court — for sport
  8. shower — to wash
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. court — of a king
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. cold — an illness
  21. toast — bread
  22. plane — a tool
  23. cold — not warm
  24. shower — rain

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