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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. stem — to come from
  5. clip — a video
  6. clip — for paper
  7. spring — of water
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. shower — to wash
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. clip — to cut
  14. spring — the season
  15. squash — the sport
  16. pound — a weight
  17. squash — to crush
  18. spring — a coil
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. shower — rain
  22. sharp — clever
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. straw — a straw man

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