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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  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. cell — a phone
  3. staff — a stick
  4. field — a subject
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. cell — in biology
  7. field — farmland
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. ball — a dance
  11. staff — employees
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. ball — a great time
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. last — finally
  16. sharp — clever
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. last — final
  19. last — to go on
  20. field — for sport
  21. staff — employees
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. sharp — with an edge
  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