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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 · lie · straw · object · bowl · sharp · deal · last

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. cold — an illness
  3. deal — to handle
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. last — finally
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. lie — to recline
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. cold — not warm
  13. object — a thing
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. last — to go on
  16. object — an aim
  17. last — final
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. sharp — clever

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