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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. game — a match
  3. pass — a permit
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. shower — to wash
  6. mate — to breed
  7. mate — a partner
  8. shower — rain
  9. hand — in cards
  10. spring — the season
  11. spring — of water
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. mate — a friend
  16. game — wild animals
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. hand — help
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. spring — a coil
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. pass — to succeed

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