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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. chair — a leader
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. drill — the tool
  7. spring — the season
  8. spring — a coil
  9. drill — army training
  10. roll — a cake
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. roll — a list
  13. drill — a practice
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. spring — of water
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. rash — a series
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. rash — hasty
  24. temple — side of the head

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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