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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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. row — a line
  3. root — the cause
  4. root — of a word
  5. file — a tool
  6. root — of a plant
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — to rip
  13. club — for dancing
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. kick — in football
  17. file — a line of people
  18. club — for golf
  19. file — a document
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. club — a group
  23. row — to paddle
  24. chair — a leader

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