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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 120 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 valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. land — a country
  4. cold — not warm
  5. squash — to crush
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. cold — an illness
  11. land — to come down
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. last — final
  14. land — ground
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. squash — the sport
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. object — to protest
  19. object — an aim
  20. sharp — clever
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. last — to go on
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. last — finally

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