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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. cold — an illness
  3. staff — employees
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. content — the amount
  6. root — of a word
  7. net — for catching
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. lie — to recline
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. net — in sport
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. staff — a stick
  16. net — after costs
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. root — of a plant
  19. cold — not warm
  20. staff — employees
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. content — happy
  23. root — the cause
  24. straw — a straw man

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