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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 took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. tear — from crying
  6. press — to push
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. fork — in a road
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. tear — to rip
  13. press — newspapers
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. press — a publisher
  16. cold — an illness
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. kick — in football
  21. tear — from crying
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. straw — a straw man

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