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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: fall · spring · straw · present · drill · leaves · deal · cold

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. fall — the season
  3. drill — a practice
  4. drill — the tool
  5. present — the time now
  6. present — a gift
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — to drop
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. cold — an illness
  11. spring — a coil
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. drill — army training
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. spring — the season
  16. cold — not warm
  17. present — there
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. spring — of water
  22. deal — to handle
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. leaves — of a tree

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