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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. cap — a hat
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. track — to keep track
  8. cold — an illness
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cap — a lid
  12. swing — music
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hand — help
  15. swing — to play on
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. track — a path
  19. fork — in a road
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. track — a song
  23. cap — of ice
  24. swing — in golf

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