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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 116 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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. When will it ________________ you to start?
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. suit — clothes
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. suit — in cards
  7. bat — the animal
  8. pit — a hole
  9. rock — music
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. rock — a stone
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. cold — an illness
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. suit — to fit
  17. tube — a container
  18. cold — not warm
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. pit — in a race
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bat — in an idiom

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