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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 ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. kid — child
  5. tube — a container
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. shower — rain
  8. file — a line of people
  9. file — a document
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. tube — the underground
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. field — a subject
  14. firm — a company
  15. file — a tool
  16. field — for sport
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. firm — steady
  20. field — farmland
  21. shower — to wash
  22. kid — to tease
  23. firm — decided
  24. tube — in a tire

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