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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. band — a ring
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. cold — not warm
  7. band — a music group
  8. row — a line
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. cold — an illness
  11. row — to paddle
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. sharp — clever
  24. sharp — with an edge

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