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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. chair — a leader
  4. cold — not warm
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. wound — an injury
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. rest — a break
  11. wound — an injury
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. bank — of a river
  14. bank — for money
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. squash — to crush
  18. rest — what's left
  19. staff — employees
  20. rest — what's left
  21. staff — employees
  22. bank — for money
  23. squash — the sport
  24. staff — a stick

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