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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 sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a part of the sea
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. ground — crushed
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. ground — the earth
  10. rush — hurry
  11. spring — a coil
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. spring — the season
  14. ground — a position
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. mine — for digging
  18. bat — the animal
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. band — a ring
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. spring — of water
  24. band — a music group

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