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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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. tube — the underground
  3. cold — an illness
  4. swing — music
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. lean — thin
  7. lean — to bend
  8. row — to paddle
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. stand — to bear
  13. swing — to play on
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. tube — a container
  19. cold — not warm
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. chair — a leader
  23. swing — in golf
  24. tube — in a tire

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