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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. stem — to come from
  5. toast — bread
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. bound — obliged
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. bound — tied together
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. rock — a stone
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. bound — certain
  22. cold — not warm
  23. kid — to tease
  24. leaves — lets stay

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