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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 120 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 ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. march — music
  4. march — the month
  5. cell — in biology
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. cell — a phone
  9. chest — a box
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. march — the month
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. cap — of ice
  16. chest — of your body
  17. cap — a hat
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. kid — child
  21. cap — a lid
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. chest — of your body
  24. snap — to click

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