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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. snap — to click
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. clip — a video
  7. lean — to bend
  8. tube — a container
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. capital — a city
  13. tube — the underground
  14. clip — to cut
  15. capital — money
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. lean — thin
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. clip — for paper

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