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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 124 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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. spring — the season
  3. track — a song
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. kid — child
  8. spring — a coil
  9. fall — to drop
  10. track — a path
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. row — to paddle
  14. track — to keep track
  15. row — a line
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. fall — the season
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. spring — of water
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. fan — a supporter

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