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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. rush — hurry
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. root — of a word
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. cold — an illness
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. cold — not warm
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. root — the cause
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. root — of a plant
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. pit — in a race
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. pit — a hole

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