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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. wind — moving air
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. band — a music group
  6. spring — a coil
  7. band — a ring
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. rash — hasty
  10. wind — moving air
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. spring — the season
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. sharp — clever
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. mine — for digging
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. spring — of water
  24. mine — belonging to me

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