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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. lie — to recline
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. wind — moving air
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. kick — in football
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. cold — an illness
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. prune — to trim
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — not warm
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. prune — to trim
  24. pitcher — a jug

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