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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. mark — a grade
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. kid — child
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. kid — to tease
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — not warm
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. band — a ring
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. mark — a trace
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. cap — a lid
  16. spring — the season
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. spring — a coil
  20. band — a music group
  21. cap — of ice
  22. spring — of water
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. cap — a hat

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