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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. spell — a short time
  4. bark — to shout
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. spell — letters
  10. bat — the animal
  11. spell — magic
  12. wind — moving air
  13. rock — a stone
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. rock — music
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. mine — for digging
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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