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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. sharp — clever
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. band — a music group
  11. pop — to visit
  12. cold — an illness
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. rest — what's left
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. band — a ring
  18. pop — soda
  19. rush — hurry
  20. pitch — completely
  21. pop — music
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. rest — what's left
  24. rest — a break

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