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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 120 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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. cold — not warm
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. kick — in football
  6. saw — the tool
  7. mate — a partner
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. saw — the tool
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. cold — an illness
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. mate — a friend
  19. ruler — a monarch
  20. shower — to wash
  21. mate — to breed
  22. dip — to sink
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. ruler — for measuring

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