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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. clip — for paper
  7. cold — not warm
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. clip — to cut
  10. date — the fruit
  11. face — to confront
  12. clip — a video
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. face — part of the head
  17. face — to point toward
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. cold — an illness
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. date — on the calendar

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