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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. rock — music
  7. race — humankind
  8. wind — moving air
  9. deal — to handle
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. wind — moving air
  12. pound — a weight
  13. race — the arms race
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. rock — a stone
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. kick — in football
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bat — for baseball

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