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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 water is too ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. wind — moving air
  4. cue — a hint
  5. fork — in a road
  6. drill — the tool
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. press — to push
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. cold — an illness
  12. press — newspapers
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. cue — for pool
  15. cue — a signal
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. net — in sport
  19. press — a publisher
  20. drill — army training
  21. wind — moving air
  22. drill — a practice
  23. net — for catching
  24. net — after costs

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