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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. land — ground
  5. ground — crushed
  6. bass — low music
  7. lean — thin
  8. land — to come down
  9. drill — army training
  10. content — happy
  11. bass — the fish
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. content — the amount
  15. drill — a practice
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. lean — to bend
  18. drill — the tool
  19. ground — a position
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. land — a country
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. ground — the earth

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