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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 · chair · cold · hide · pitcher · ground · charge · hand

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. cold — an illness
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. ground — crushed
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. hand — in cards
  8. ground — a position
  9. charge — a price
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. hand — help
  14. ground — the earth
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. cold — not warm
  17. charge — electricity
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. chair — a leader
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. charge — in control
  24. hand — part of the body

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