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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: roll · rock · straw · clip · stand · kid · pit · rush

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  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. kid — to tease
  2. pit — a hole
  3. stand — to bear
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. roll — a cake
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. rush — hurry
  8. pit — in a race
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — to cut
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. rock — a stone
  15. roll — a list
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. clip — a video
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. rock — music
  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