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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. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. jam — in traffic
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. stand — to bear
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. kid — to tease
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. ball — a dance
  11. scale — size or range
  12. lean — to bend
  13. lean — thin
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. kid — child
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — not warm
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. ball — a great time
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. scale — in music

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