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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. wind — moving air
  3. pound — a weight
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. cold — not warm
  7. field — farmland
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. cold — an illness
  11. board — a committee
  12. board — to get on
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. bass — the fish
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. field — a subject
  17. wind — moving air
  18. bass — low music
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. field — for sport

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