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

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. hand — help
  3. chest — of your body
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. mug — a cup
  9. chest — of your body
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. kid — to tease
  12. kid — child
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. spell — a short time
  16. mug — a face
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. hand — in cards
  19. wake — a trail
  20. spell — magic
  21. mug — to rob
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. spell — letters
  24. chest — a box

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