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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 120 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 water is too ________________.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. cold — not warm
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. current — happening now
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. wake — a trail
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. cold — an illness
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. shower — rain
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. sharp — clever
  16. current — of water
  17. current — electric
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. shower — to wash
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. arm — part of the body

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