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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. ball — a dance
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. wax — to grow
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. ball — a great time
  10. shower — to wash
  11. file — a line of people
  12. file — a document
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. file — a tool
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. wound — an injury
  18. shower — rain
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. straw — dry grass

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