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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: ground · rock · kid · straw · wake · mouse · fall · tear

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. wake — a trail
  3. ground — the earth
  4. tear — to rip
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. ground — a position
  8. tear — from crying
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. tear — from crying
  11. kid — child
  12. fall — to drop
  13. rock — a stone
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. fall — the season
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. kid — to tease
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. fall — to drop
  22. ground — crushed
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. wake — before a funeral

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