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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.

Make a worksheet

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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. rash — hasty
  3. rash — a series
  4. net — in sport
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. clip — a video
  9. cold — not warm
  10. clip — to cut
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. clip — for paper
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. net — for catching
  16. net — after costs
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. cold — an illness

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