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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. last — finally
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. clip — for paper
  6. march — the month
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. bound — obliged
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. last — final
  11. content — the amount
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. march — the month
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. march — music
  16. bound — tied together
  17. bark — to shout
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. clip — a video
  20. bound — certain
  21. clip — to cut
  22. content — happy
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. last — to go on

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