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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. mate — a partner
  3. kid — to tease
  4. kid — child
  5. file — a line of people
  6. rush — hurry
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. mate — to breed
  10. hand — help
  11. mate — a friend
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. file — a tool
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. file — a document
  20. hand — in cards
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. temple — side of the head

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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