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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. pit — a hole
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. stock — shares
  5. ground — a position
  6. cold — not warm
  7. pass — a permit
  8. bass — the fish
  9. bass — low music
  10. pit — in a race
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. stock — goods
  13. ground — the earth
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. wind — moving air
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. wind — moving air
  20. ground — crushed
  21. cold — an illness
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. pass — to spend time

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