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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. bass — the fish
  3. field — farmland
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. object — a thing
  6. object — to protest
  7. object — an aim
  8. pass — a permit
  9. last — to go on
  10. last — finally
  11. hand — help
  12. bass — low music
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. last — final
  15. hand — in cards
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. field — for sport
  20. field — a subject
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. straw — a straw man

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