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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. lean — thin
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. content — happy
  8. hand — help
  9. bound — tied together
  10. bound — certain
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. hand — in cards
  13. lean — to bend
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. press — a publisher
  17. press — to push
  18. branch — a division
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. content — the amount
  21. bound — obliged
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. press — newspapers
  24. content — videos and posts

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