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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. key — for a lock
  4. prune — to trim
  5. chair — a leader
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. stock — shares
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. key — the most important part
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. vault — a safe
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. stem — to come from
  19. stock — goods
  20. bat — the animal
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. prune — to trim
  23. key — in music
  24. bat — in an idiom

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