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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 116 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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. band — a music group
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. clip — a video
  7. spring — the season
  8. stock — goods
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. spring — of water
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. ground — a position
  13. band — a ring
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. spring — a coil
  19. clip — to cut
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. stock — shares
  22. ground — crushed
  23. ground — the earth
  24. clip — for paper

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