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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. bound — tied together
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. cold — not warm
  8. roll — a cake
  9. bound — obliged
  10. bound — certain
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. last — to go on
  14. stem — to come from
  15. shower — rain
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. shower — to wash
  18. last — final
  19. cold — an illness
  20. roll — a list
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. stem — a stem cell

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