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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. tear — to rip
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. ground — a position
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. cold — not warm
  12. ground — the earth
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. ground — crushed
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. cold — an illness
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. can — to be able to
  19. can — a tin
  20. can — a tin
  21. tear — from crying
  22. saw — the tool
  23. saw — the tool
  24. tear — from crying

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