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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. wound — an injury
  3. roll — a list
  4. roll — a cake
  5. saw — the tool
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. saw — the tool
  10. wound — an injury
  11. pass — a permit
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. chest — of your body
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. rush — hurry
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. chest — of your body
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. chest — a box
  24. coach — a trainer

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