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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 are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. tear — to rip
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. fall — to drop
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. lean — thin
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. hand — in cards
  11. bound — certain
  12. lean — to bend
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. fall — to drop
  15. tear — from crying
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. bound — tied together
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. hand — help
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. tear — from crying
  22. fall — the season
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. straw — a straw man

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