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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  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. snap — to snap out of it
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. spring — of water
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. content — happy
  9. can — a tin
  10. bark — to shout
  11. can — a tin
  12. spring — a coil
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. spring — the season
  16. snap — to click
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. content — the amount
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. can — to be able to
  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