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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. row — a line
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. wound — an injury
  5. mate — a friend
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. rest — a break
  8. chest — of your body
  9. wound — an injury
  10. pound — a weight
  11. fall — to drop
  12. chest — a box
  13. fall — to drop
  14. chest — of your body
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. rest — what's left
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. rest — what's left
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. row — to paddle
  22. fall — the season
  23. mate — to breed
  24. mate — a partner

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