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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. clip — for paper
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. lean — thin
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. clip — to cut
  10. pound — a weight
  11. mate — a partner
  12. deal — to handle
  13. lean — to bend
  14. plane — a tool
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. mate — a friend
  21. mine — for digging
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. mate — to breed
  24. clip — a video

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