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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. chest — a box
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. cue — a hint
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. cue — for pool
  10. chest — of your body
  11. wind — moving air
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. wind — moving air
  15. prune — to trim
  16. cue — a signal
  17. prune — to trim
  18. chest — of your body
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. bat — the animal
  24. prune — the fruit

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