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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. mate — a friend
  3. rash — hasty
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. drill — a practice
  6. spring — a coil
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. file — a line of people
  9. spring — the season
  10. rash — a series
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. drill — army training
  13. fall — to drop
  14. drill — the tool
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. file — a tool
  17. spring — of water
  18. rock — music
  19. fall — to drop
  20. mate — a partner
  21. rock — a stone
  22. fall — the season
  23. file — a document
  24. mate — to breed

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