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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. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — a stone
  2. bass — the fish
  3. cold — not warm
  4. bass — low music
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. key — for a lock
  8. hand — help
  9. hand — in cards
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. cold — an illness
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. wake — a trail
  19. key — in music
  20. key — the most important part
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. rock — music
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. bat — the animal

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