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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: cold · root · bay · straw · roll · game · hand · kick

  1. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a part of the sea
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. hand — help
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. game — wild animals
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. kick — in football
  12. hand — in cards
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. root — of a word
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. root — the cause
  17. roll — a list
  18. roll — a cake
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. root — of a plant
  23. game — a match
  24. cold — an illness

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