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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. cap — a lid
  4. cap — a hat
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. cold — an illness
  11. charge — electricity
  12. dip — to sink
  13. game — a match
  14. cap — of ice
  15. board — a committee
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. board — to get on
  18. cold — not warm
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. charge — in control
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. fork — in a road
  23. charge — a price
  24. game — wild animals

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