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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. rest — what's left
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. craft — boats
  5. ball — a great time
  6. shower — to wash
  7. rest — a break
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. craft — a skill
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. lean — to bend
  16. rest — what's left
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. ball — a dance
  20. shower — rain
  21. kid — to tease
  22. lean — thin
  23. cell — in biology
  24. kid — child

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