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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 116 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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. hand — help
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. kid — child
  6. wound — an injury
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. wound — an injury
  9. kid — to tease
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — a subject
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. press — to push
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. press — a publisher
  19. cue — a signal
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. cue — for pool
  22. wake — a trail
  23. cue — a hint
  24. press — newspapers

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