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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 116 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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. chip — to eat
  3. last — finally
  4. wound — an injury
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. ground — crushed
  7. last — to go on
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — to rip
  10. ground — a position
  11. mine — for digging
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. ground — the earth
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. scale — in music
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. last — final
  18. chip — for betting
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. wound — an injury
  22. tear — from crying
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. scale — size or range

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