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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. shower — to wash
  3. roll — a cake
  4. swing — in golf
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. spring — of water
  7. spring — the season
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. roll — a list
  12. swing — to play on
  13. bank — for money
  14. shower — rain
  15. court — of a king
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. swing — music
  18. bank — for money
  19. bark — to shout
  20. bank — of a river
  21. court — of law
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. spring — a coil
  24. court — for sport

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