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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. pop — music
  3. pop — to visit
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. present — the time now
  6. tear — from crying
  7. scale — size or range
  8. present — there
  9. last — finally
  10. cue — a signal
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. cue — a hint
  13. present — a gift
  14. kid — to tease
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — child
  19. cue — for pool
  20. tear — from crying
  21. last — to go on
  22. scale — in music
  23. last — final
  24. tear — to rip

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