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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. face — to point toward
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. face — part of the head
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. kick — in football
  10. root — of a word
  11. kid — child
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. scale — in music
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. face — to confront
  17. scale — size or range
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. root — of a plant
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. root — the cause
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bat — the animal

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