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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. ground — a position
  3. hand — help
  4. ground — crushed
  5. track — a song
  6. ground — the earth
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. mate — to breed
  9. track — a path
  10. tear — from crying
  11. present — a gift
  12. mate — a partner
  13. cell — in biology
  14. hand — in cards
  15. cell — a phone
  16. track — to keep track
  17. mate — a friend
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. tear — from crying
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. tear — to rip
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. present — the time now

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