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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. court — for sport
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. shower — rain
  6. bound — certain
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. court — of law
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. bound — tied together
  12. court — of a king
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. wind — moving air
  16. bound — obliged
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. shower — to wash
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. wind — moving air
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. wake — a trail

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