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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. land — ground
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. clip — to cut
  7. content — the amount
  8. land — to come down
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. content — happy
  11. prune — to trim
  12. deal — to handle
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. clip — for paper
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. root — of a word
  18. prune — to trim
  19. clip — a video
  20. tube — a container
  21. root — of a plant
  22. land — a country
  23. root — the cause
  24. tube — the underground

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