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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. band — a music group
  4. hand — in cards
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. plane — a tool
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. cold — an illness
  10. hand — help
  11. band — a ring
  12. rush — hurry
  13. net — after costs
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. net — in sport
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. net — for catching
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. saw — the tool
  24. cold — not warm

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