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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 surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. prune — to trim
  4. scale — size or range
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. stock — shares
  8. ground — a position
  9. present — a gift
  10. ground — crushed
  11. ground — the earth
  12. scale — in music
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. file — a document
  15. present — there
  16. prune — to trim
  17. present — the time now
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. file — a line of people
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. stock — goods
  23. file — a tool
  24. stock — a soup base

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