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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. cold — not warm
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — to drop
  9. land — to come down
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. land — ground
  12. cue — a signal
  13. stock — goods
  14. stock — shares
  15. hand — help
  16. cue — a hint
  17. land — a country
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. kick — in football
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cue — for pool
  23. hand — part of the body
  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