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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. foot — a measure
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. can — a tin
  7. court — of a king
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. cold — not warm
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. wound — an injury
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. saw — the tool
  14. wound — an injury
  15. can — a tin
  16. saw — the tool
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. court — of law
  19. content — the amount
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. content — happy
  22. court — for sport
  23. cold — an illness
  24. straw — dry grass

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