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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. chip — for betting
  3. stem — to come from
  4. court — of a king
  5. spell — letters
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. court — of law
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. spell — magic
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. mine — for digging
  13. chip — to eat
  14. spell — a short time
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. court — for sport
  18. stem — a stem cell

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