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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 120 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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. mark — a grade
  4. pop — to visit
  5. cold — an illness
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. cold — not warm
  8. deal — to handle
  9. content — the amount
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. saw — the tool
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. saw — the tool
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. mark — a trace
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. content — happy
  21. pop — music
  22. pop — soda
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. straw — a straw man

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