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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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. face — to confront
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. spring — the season
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. tube — a container
  11. cold — not warm
  12. net — after costs
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. net — for catching
  15. spring — of water
  16. cold — an illness
  17. tube — the underground
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. face — part of the head
  20. spring — a coil
  21. face — to point toward
  22. net — in sport
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. straw — dry grass

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