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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. mine — for digging
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — not warm
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. hide — animal skin

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