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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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. kid — child
  3. kid — to tease
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. bound — obliged
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. bulb — for light
  8. cold — not warm
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. bulb — for light
  12. bound — certain
  13. board — a committee
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. cold — an illness
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. board — to get on
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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