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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. rule — a law
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. kid — to tease
  6. rule — government
  7. cell — in biology
  8. swing — to play on
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. file — a tool
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. game — a match
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. game — wild animals
  17. file — a document
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. kid — child
  20. file — a line of people
  21. swing — music
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. swing — in golf
  24. cell — a phone

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