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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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Word bank
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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: row · straw · hand · face · rule · kid · sharp · press

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. rule — a law
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. face — to confront
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. face — to point toward
  10. row — a line
  11. press — a publisher
  12. sharp — clever
  13. press — to push
  14. press — newspapers
  15. hand — help
  16. kid — to tease
  17. rule — government
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. face — part of the head
  20. hand — in cards
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. kid — child

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