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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. present — the time now
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. squash — the sport
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. hand — help
  10. chest — of your body
  11. hand — in cards
  12. lean — thin
  13. squash — to crush
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. present — a gift
  16. chest — of your body
  17. mate — a friend
  18. chest — a box
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. kick — in football
  21. mate — to breed
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. present — there
  24. lean — to bend

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