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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. press — a publisher
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. cell — in biology
  5. rash — hasty
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. mate — a partner
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. rash — a series
  10. club — for dancing
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. mate — to breed
  14. mate — a friend
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. press — to push
  17. club — a group
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. cell — a phone
  21. press — newspapers
  22. cold — not warm
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. straw — a straw man

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