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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: sharp · straw · track · kid · mouse · fall · cold · leaves

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. cold — not warm
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. kid — child
  8. track — a path
  9. kid — to tease
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. fall — to drop
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. sharp — clever
  20. track — a song
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. track — to keep track
  23. fall — the season
  24. fall — to drop

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