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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. sharp — clever
  5. race — the arms race
  6. race — humankind
  7. cell — in biology
  8. rash — a series
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. kid — to tease
  11. race — a contest
  12. branch — a division
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. cell — a phone
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. hand — in cards
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. hand — help
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. kid — child
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. branch — of a bank

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