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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. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. branch — a division
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. safe — a strongbox
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. can — to be able to
  9. capital — a city
  10. cold — not warm
  11. clip — for paper
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. can — a tin
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. can — a tin
  17. capital — money
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. clip — a video
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. cold — an illness
  24. clip — to cut

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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