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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 116 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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  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. scale — size or range
  3. rest — what's left
  4. tube — the underground
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. clip — a video
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. rest — what's left
  11. content — the amount
  12. tube — a container
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. content — happy
  17. clip — to cut
  18. rest — a break
  19. clip — for paper
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. scale — in music
  23. trunk — of a car
  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