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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: straw · coach · lean · file · hide · bear · bat · sharp

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. lean — thin
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. lean — to bend
  10. bear — the animal
  11. bear — the animal
  12. bat — the animal
  13. file — a document
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. file — a tool
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. sharp — clever
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. file — a line of people
  24. bear — to put up with

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