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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 116 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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. saw — the tool
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. fall — the season
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. fall — to drop
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. pitch — completely
  13. fall — to drop
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. game — a match
  17. game — wild animals
  18. saw — the tool

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