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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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 — an illness
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. saw — the tool
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. wake — a trail
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — an injury
  13. fall — the season
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fall — to drop
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. saw — the tool
  21. bat — the animal
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. straw — a straw man

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