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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. file — a document
  3. roll — a cake
  4. spring — a coil
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. bear — the animal
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. spring — the season
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. roll — a list
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. hand — in cards
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. spring — of water
  16. bear — the animal
  17. hand — help
  18. lie — to recline
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. file — a line of people
  21. scale — size or range
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. file — a tool
  24. scale — in music

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