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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 116 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. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. pop — soda
  3. branch — a division
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. pit — a hole
  7. club — for golf
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. tube — the underground
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. club — a group
  14. sharp — clever
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. pop — to visit
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — an illness
  19. pit — in a race
  20. pop — music
  21. club — for dancing
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. tube — a container

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