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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. chest — of your body
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. file — a line of people
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. mark — a trace
  11. file — a tool
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. mark — a grade
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. chest — a box
  16. pitch — completely
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. file — a document
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. deal — to handle

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