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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. cue — a hint
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. cold — an illness
  9. object — to protest
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. object — a thing
  12. press — to push
  13. bound — tied together
  14. bound — obliged
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. press — a publisher
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bound — certain
  19. cue — a signal
  20. cue — for pool
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. press — newspapers
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. pitcher — a jug

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