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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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Word bank
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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 lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. cold — an illness
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. face — to confront
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. key — in music
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. lean — thin
  14. chest — of your body
  15. key — the most important part
  16. face — part of the head
  17. key — for a lock
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. chest — of your body
  20. lean — to bend
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. face — to point toward
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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