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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 124 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. The water is too ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. cold — not warm
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. mate — to breed
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. can — a tin
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. cold — an illness
  10. can — to be able to
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. mate — a partner
  13. race — the arms race
  14. sharp — clever
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. race — humankind
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. mate — a friend
  19. can — a tin
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. race — a contest
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. mine — for digging

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