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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 116 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: straw · cell · rest · staff · kick · pit · prune · cold

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. prune — to trim
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. prune — to trim
  9. pit — in a race
  10. rest — a break
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. kick — in football
  13. cell — a phone
  14. pit — a hole
  15. cell — in biology
  16. rest — what's left
  17. staff — a stick
  18. staff — employees
  19. staff — employees
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. rest — what's left
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. cold — not warm

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