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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. cold — an illness
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. wake — a trail
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. tear — from crying
  13. fall — to drop
  14. cold — not warm
  15. tear — from crying
  16. fall — the season
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. degree — an amount
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. tear — to rip
  22. degree — from a university
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. degree — temperature

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