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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. cold — an illness
  4. rest — what's left
  5. craft — a skill
  6. hand — in cards
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. shower — to wash
  9. shower — rain
  10. rest — a break
  11. net — for catching
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. craft — boats
  18. cold — not warm
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. net — in sport
  21. hand — help
  22. rest — what's left
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. net — after costs

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