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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. content — the amount
  3. mate — to breed
  4. mate — a partner
  5. spring — a coil
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. court — for sport
  8. spring — of water
  9. court — of a king
  10. hand — in cards
  11. face — part of the head
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. face — to point toward
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. spring — the season
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. content — happy
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. court — of law
  21. face — to confront
  22. mate — a friend
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. hand — help

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