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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 116 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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. shower — to wash
  4. pit — in a race
  5. chair — a leader
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. shower — rain
  8. pit — a hole
  9. file — a document
  10. mate — to breed
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. hand — help
  17. mate — a friend
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. mate — a partner
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. file — a line of people
  23. file — a tool
  24. chair — to sit on

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