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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 116 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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. lean — thin
  3. spring — a coil
  4. spring — of water
  5. drill — army training
  6. cold — not warm
  7. track — a song
  8. vault — a safe
  9. track — to keep track
  10. rest — what's left
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. spring — the season
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. track — a path
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. lean — to bend
  17. rest — what's left
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. drill — a practice
  21. cold — an illness
  22. drill — the tool
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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