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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. pop — to visit
  3. spring — the season
  4. sharp — clever
  5. perch — the fish
  6. field — a subject
  7. pop — soda
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. spring — a coil
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. rule — a law
  13. rule — government
  14. spring — of water
  15. pop — music
  16. squash — to crush
  17. squash — the sport
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. field — farmland
  20. field — for sport
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. straw — dry grass

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