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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: pit · straw · hand · cold · chair · ground

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. ground — a position
  5. pit — in a race
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. ground — the earth
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. chair — a leader
  13. pit — a hole
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. ground — crushed
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — help
  18. straw — dry grass

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