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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. sharp — clever
  4. tube — a container
  5. cold — not warm
  6. saw — the tool
  7. bore — to tire
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. root — the cause
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. root — of a plant
  13. root — of a word
  14. bore — to drill
  15. saw — the tool
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. chest — of your body
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. chest — a box
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. tube — the underground
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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