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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 broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. drill — army training
  4. staff — employees
  5. clip — to cut
  6. game — a match
  7. staff — a stick
  8. game — wild animals
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. clip — a video
  11. press — a publisher
  12. clip — for paper
  13. chest — of your body
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. drill — a practice
  16. drill — the tool
  17. chest — of your body
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. staff — employees
  20. press — to push
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. chest — a box
  24. press — newspapers

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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