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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: straw · cold · rash · stem · club · march · deal · mouse

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. march — the month
  3. stem — to come from
  4. club — for dancing
  5. cold — an illness
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. march — the month
  13. cold — not warm
  14. club — a group
  15. rash — a series
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. deal — to handle
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. club — for golf
  21. rash — hasty
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. march — music
  24. mouse — the animal

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