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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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. straw — dry grass
  4. dip — to sink
  5. capital — money
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. cold — not warm
  10. wind — moving air
  11. roll — a list
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. cold — an illness
  14. wind — moving air
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. capital — a city
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. roll — a cake
  20. game — a match
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. game — wild animals
  24. capital — a big letter

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