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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  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. squash — the sport
  2. spring — a coil
  3. shower — to wash
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. mate — a friend
  6. mate — a partner
  7. squash — to crush
  8. shower — rain
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. pit — in a race
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. pit — a hole
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. mate — to breed
  17. rash — hasty
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. spring — of water
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. spring — the season
  23. rash — a series
  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