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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. rash — a series
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. rash — hasty
  5. lean — thin
  6. bass — low music
  7. bass — the fish
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. scale — in music
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. scale — size or range
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. cold — not warm
  19. wake — a trail
  20. vault — a safe
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. lean — to bend

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