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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. key — in music
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. chest — of your body
  5. spring — of water
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. bat — the animal
  8. content — the amount
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. key — the most important part
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. spring — the season
  15. chest — of your body
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. spring — a coil
  18. key — for a lock
  19. chest — a box
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. content — happy
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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