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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cell — in biology
  5. track — to keep track
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. track — a song
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. rest — a break
  11. dip — to sink
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — what's left
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. cell — a phone
  16. lie — to recline
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. cold — not warm
  23. shower — rain
  24. track — a path

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