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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 116 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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. net — after costs
  4. tube — the underground
  5. kid — to tease
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. cold — not warm
  8. net — in sport
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. stand — to bear
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. bank — of a river
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. kid — child
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. net — for catching
  20. bank — for money
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. tube — a container
  23. dip — to sink
  24. bank — for money

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