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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 120 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. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. chest — of your body
  6. kid — to tease
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. plane — a tool
  9. charge — in control
  10. pit — in a race
  11. chest — a box
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. cold — an illness
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. chest — of your body
  18. charge — electricity
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. kid — child
  21. pit — a hole
  22. cold — not warm
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. straw — a straw man

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