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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  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. straw — a straw man
  2. last — final
  3. bark — to shout
  4. land — a country
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. land — to come down
  8. last — to go on
  9. last — finally
  10. bore — to drill
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. season — of the year
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. land — ground
  17. bore — to tire
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. cold — not warm
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. season — in sport
  23. sharp — clever
  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