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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. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. suit — in cards
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. suit — clothes
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. root — of a word
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. root — of a plant
  20. fork — in a road
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. root — the cause
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. cold — an illness

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