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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 120 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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. prune — to trim
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. staff — a stick
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. rule — a law
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — an illness
  13. staff — employees
  14. prune — to trim
  15. rule — government
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. fork — in a road
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. staff — employees
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. pitch — a sports field

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