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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. tear — to rip
  4. tear — from crying
  5. bound — obliged
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bound — certain
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. plane — a tool
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. bound — tied together
  20. pit — in a race
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. tear — from crying
  24. pit — a hole

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