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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 116 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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. kid — child
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. bass — the fish
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. field — farmland
  15. field — a subject
  16. bass — low music
  17. field — for sport
  18. rock — a stone
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. kid — to tease
  21. kick — in football
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. wake — a trail
  24. bass — the instrument

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