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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. drill — a practice
  3. drill — the tool
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. cold — an illness
  9. drill — army training
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. branch — a division
  14. bat — the animal
  15. staff — employees
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. cold — not warm
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. staff — employees
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. branch — of a tree

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