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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. cue — for pool
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. net — for catching
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. net — in sport
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. cue — a signal
  16. saw — the tool
  17. cold — an illness
  18. net — after costs
  19. cold — not warm
  20. track — to keep track
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. track — a path
  23. saw — the tool
  24. track — a song

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