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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. ball — a dance
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. ball — a great time
  6. mate — a friend
  7. rest — a break
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. shower — to wash
  10. mate — a partner
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. rest — what's left
  13. club — for dancing
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. shower — rain
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. mate — to breed
  18. club — for golf
  19. cold — not warm
  20. rest — what's left
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. cold — an illness
  24. club — a group

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