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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. hand — in cards
  4. staff — employees
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. staff — employees
  7. drill — a practice
  8. drill — the tool
  9. ground — crushed
  10. staff — a stick
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. chest — a box
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. craft — boats
  16. ground — the earth
  17. ground — a position
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. hand — help
  20. chest — of your body
  21. drill — army training
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. craft — a skill
  24. craft — a handicraft

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