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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. hand — in cards
  4. wound — an injury
  5. scale — size or range
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. track — to keep track
  10. craft — a skill
  11. craft — boats
  12. clip — to cut
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. scale — in music
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. track — a song
  18. track — a path
  19. clip — a video
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. hand — help
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. clip — for paper
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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