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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. pop — to visit
  6. cold — not warm
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. kid — child
  9. pop — music
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. kid — to tease
  13. cell — in biology
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. cell — a phone
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. lash — to lash out

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