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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. net — after costs
  3. net — for catching
  4. rush — hurry
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — a box
  7. can — a tin
  8. ball — a dance
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. chest — of your body
  11. ball — a great time
  12. scale — size or range
  13. net — in sport
  14. kid — to tease
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. can — a tin
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. kid — child
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. scale — in music
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. can — to be able to

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