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

Word bank: present · hand · mark · jam · cue · last · straw · cold

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. last — to go on
  4. last — finally
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — not warm
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. last — final
  9. present — the time now
  10. hand — in cards
  11. cue — a signal
  12. present — there
  13. hand — help
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. mark — a trace
  17. cue — for pool
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. present — a gift
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. cue — a hint
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. mark — a grade

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