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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 120 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: hide · fall · sharp · game · hand · straw · last · rash

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. sharp — clever
  3. last — to go on
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. fall — to drop
  9. rash — a series
  10. hand — in cards
  11. fall — to drop
  12. last — finally
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. game — wild animals
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. last — final
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. hand — help
  22. rash — hasty
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. fall — the season

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