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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. file — a tool
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. swing — to play on
  7. cell — in biology
  8. mate — a partner
  9. mate — to breed
  10. swing — in golf
  11. mate — a friend
  12. swing — music
  13. file — a document
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. file — a line of people
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. straw — dry grass

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