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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. hand — help
  3. pit — a hole
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. present — a gift
  7. staff — a stick
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. cold — not warm
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. staff — employees
  12. present — the time now
  13. saw — the tool
  14. hand — in cards
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. saw — the tool
  18. staff — employees
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. pit — in a race
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. present — there
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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