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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 120 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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. current — of water
  6. clip — to cut
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. clip — for paper
  11. capital — a city
  12. court — for sport
  13. clip — a video
  14. snap — to click
  15. pitch — completely
  16. current — happening now
  17. current — electric
  18. content — happy
  19. capital — money
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. court — of a king
  22. court — of law
  23. content — the amount
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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