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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. ground — a position
  3. pitch — completely
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. ground — crushed
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. fall — to drop
  10. tube — the underground
  11. game — wild animals
  12. tube — a container
  13. field — for sport
  14. ground — the earth
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. field — a subject
  18. field — farmland
  19. game — a match
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. fall — to drop
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. snap — to click
  24. fall — the season

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