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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. row — a line
  3. hand — help
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. rest — what's left
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. row — to paddle
  10. rest — what's left
  11. foot — a measure
  12. bat — the animal
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. mate — a partner
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. mate — a friend
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. rest — a break
  20. stand — to bear
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. mate — to breed
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. hand — in cards

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