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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. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. drill — army training
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. drill — the tool
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. sharp — clever
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. tear — from crying
  15. hand — help
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. tear — from crying
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. tear — to rip
  20. hand — in cards
  21. mark — a grade
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. kick — in football
  24. drill — a practice

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