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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 hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. hand — in cards
  4. field — a subject
  5. hand — help
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. field — farmland
  13. band — a ring
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. field — for sport
  16. chair — a leader
  17. plane — a tool
  18. rock — a stone
  19. band — a music group
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. stand — to bear
  22. rock — music
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. plane — in geometry

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