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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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. rest — what's left
  5. sharp — clever
  6. prune — to trim
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. cold — not warm
  10. bat — the animal
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. rest — a break
  16. cold — an illness
  17. mine — for digging
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. prune — to trim
  21. rest — what's left
  22. mark — a trace
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. mine — an explosive

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