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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 120 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've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. rush — hurry
  5. mark — a grade
  6. tear — from crying
  7. saw — the tool
  8. saw — the tool
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. press — to push
  11. tear — to rip
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. tear — from crying
  14. press — newspapers
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. mark — a trace
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. press — a publisher
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — not warm
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. kid — to tease
  24. kid — child

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