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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. squash — the sport
  3. track — a path
  4. cold — not warm
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. squash — to crush
  8. track — to keep track
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. craft — a skill
  11. track — a song
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. craft — boats
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. pound — a weight
  18. snap — to click
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. shower — to wash
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — an illness
  23. shower — rain
  24. craft — a handicraft

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