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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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. stock — goods
  3. saw — the tool
  4. race — the arms race
  5. pit — a hole
  6. race — humankind
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — to trim
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. race — a contest
  12. game — wild animals
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. row — to paddle
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. row — a line
  18. game — a match
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. stock — shares
  21. saw — the tool
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. pit — in a race

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