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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. game — a match
  4. chest — a box
  5. mark — a trace
  6. root — the cause
  7. chest — of your body
  8. cold — not warm
  9. ball — a dance
  10. game — wild animals
  11. chest — of your body
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. root — of a word
  14. tube — a container
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — an illness
  17. tube — the underground
  18. ball — a great time
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. root — of a plant
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. mark — a grade

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