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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. prune — to trim
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. perch — the fish
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. wind — moving air
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. rash — hasty
  12. fall — the season
  13. wind — moving air
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. fall — to drop
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. rash — a series
  24. prune — to trim

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