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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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. bound — tied together
  3. spring — the season
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. fine — high quality
  9. spring — of water
  10. bound — obliged
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. spring — a coil
  14. capital — a city
  15. game — wild animals
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. fine — all right
  18. bound — certain
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. capital — money
  22. game — a match
  23. wind — moving air
  24. game — a kind of play

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