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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. file — a tool
  7. pit — in a race
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. wound — an injury
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. shower — to wash
  12. shower — rain
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. perch — the fish
  21. wound — an injury
  22. file — a document
  23. file — a line of people
  24. pit — a hole

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