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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. spell — letters
  5. spell — magic
  6. tube — a container
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. bark — to shout
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. mate — a friend
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. mate — a partner
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. row — to paddle
  16. tube — the underground
  17. band — a ring
  18. row — a line
  19. mate — to breed
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. kick — in football
  23. spell — a short time
  24. band — a music group

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