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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  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 — a straw man
  2. mate — a friend
  3. clip — to cut
  4. mate — to breed
  5. hand — in cards
  6. craft — boats
  7. wax — to grow
  8. clip — for paper
  9. rock — music
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. clip — a video
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. mate — a partner
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. roll — a cake
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. roll — a list
  19. hand — help
  20. rock — a stone
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. craft — a skill
  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