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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 thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  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. mouse — the animal
  3. roll — a list
  4. fall — to drop
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. chest — of your body
  7. fall — the season
  8. rest — what's left
  9. pitch — completely
  10. roll — a cake
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. chest — of your body
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. bat — the animal
  18. fall — to drop
  19. chest — a box
  20. rest — what's left
  21. rest — a break
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. mouse — for a computer
  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