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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 120 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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. march — the month
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. kid — child
  7. march — music
  8. lie — to recline
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. chest — of your body
  12. march — the month
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. wind — moving air
  15. chest — a box
  16. kid — to tease
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. mine — for digging
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. chest — of your body
  24. mine — belonging to me

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