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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 water is too ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. lie — to recline
  6. kick — in football
  7. band — a music group
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. cold — an illness
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. toast — bread
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. scale — size or range
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. scale — in music
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. band — a ring

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