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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 120 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 hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. lie — to recline
  3. band — a ring
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. stock — shares
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. snap — to click
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. band — a music group
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. cold — not warm
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. stock — goods
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. sharp — clever

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