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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: foot · jam · straw · land · rash · cold · net · roll

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. land — a country
  4. land — ground
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. net — after costs
  7. roll — a cake
  8. cold — an illness
  9. land — to come down
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. roll — a list
  12. rash — a series
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. net — in sport
  19. cold — not warm
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. net — for catching
  22. foot — a measure
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. foot — part of the body

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