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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  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. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. spring — the season
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of a king
  5. press — to push
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. press — newspapers
  10. craft — boats
  11. spring — a coil
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. craft — a skill
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. hand — help
  17. hand — in cards
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. press — a publisher
  20. spring — of water
  21. dip — to sink
  22. perch — the fish
  23. court — of law
  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