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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. squash — to crush
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — moving air
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. ground — the earth
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. squash — the sport
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. ground — crushed
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. board — to get on
  16. ground — a position
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. mine — for digging
  19. board — a committee
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — the animal
  24. wind — to turn a key

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