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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. mug — to rob
  3. present — there
  4. band — a music group
  5. present — the time now
  6. shower — to wash
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. wax — to grow
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. band — a ring
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. file — a document
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a tool
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. shower — rain
  20. mug — a cup
  21. sharp — clever
  22. mug — a face
  23. present — a gift
  24. sharp — with an edge

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