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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. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. sharp — clever
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. land — ground
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. land — a country
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. file — a line of people
  10. board — to get on
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. cold — an illness
  13. land — to come down
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. board — a committee
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. file — a tool
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. file — a document
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. cold — not warm
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. pit — a hole

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