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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 116 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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  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. cabinet — ministers
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. game — a match
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — not warm
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. sharp — clever
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. spell — letters
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. game — wild animals
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. spell — a short time
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. spell — magic
  23. game — a kind of play
  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