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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. cold — an illness
  3. lean — thin
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. band — a ring
  7. chair — a leader
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. fine — all right
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. cold — not warm
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. lean — to bend
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. fine — high quality
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. band — a music group
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. cold — the Cold War

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