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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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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. suit — to fit
  6. file — a tool
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. craft — boats
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — a video
  12. file — a document
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. suit — in cards
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. field — for sport
  17. file — a line of people
  18. field — a subject
  19. suit — clothes
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. field — farmland
  22. hand — help
  23. craft — a skill
  24. clip — for paper

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