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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. bass — low music
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. cold — not warm
  5. tear — from crying
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. spring — of water
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. club — a group
  10. club — for dancing
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. bass — the fish
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. tear — from crying
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. club — for golf
  18. spring — the season
  19. spring — a coil
  20. tear — to rip
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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