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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 116 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 water is too ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. fall — to drop
  4. object — an aim
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. object — to protest
  8. rule — government
  9. fall — to drop
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. rule — a law
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. squash — the sport
  18. fall — the season
  19. squash — to crush
  20. cold — an illness
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. object — a thing
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. hide — animal skin

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