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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. cold — an illness
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. present — a gift
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. cold — not warm
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. mark — a grade
  13. stem — to come from
  14. present — the time now
  15. mark — a trace
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. sharp — clever
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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