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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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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: march · cold · straw · snap · hide · ball · fork · can

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. march — the month
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. ball — a great time
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. can — to be able to
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. ball — a dance
  11. fork — in a road
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. cold — not warm
  14. can — a tin
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. snap — to click
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. cold — an illness
  19. march — music
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. march — the month
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. can — a tin
  24. ball — a round shape

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