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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. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. bay — to keep at bay
  3. kid — to tease
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. clip — a video
  6. clip — for paper
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. bat — the animal
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. clip — to cut
  13. kid — child
  14. cap — a lid
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. wound — an injury
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. cap — of ice
  20. cap — a hat
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. bat — for baseball

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