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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. present — a gift
  6. content — happy
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. pop — soda
  11. present — the time now
  12. content — the amount
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. rush — hurry
  16. stand — to bear
  17. cold — an illness
  18. present — there
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. pop — music
  21. pop — to visit
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. stand — on your feet

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