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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. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. roll — a list
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. bat — the animal
  5. scale — in music
  6. roll — a cake
  7. rock — music
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. cell — a phone
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. scale — size or range
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. cell — in biology
  18. saw — the tool
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. dip — to sink
  21. rock — a stone
  22. saw — the tool
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. dip — to dunk

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