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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. rush — hurry
  4. scale — size or range
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. tear — from crying
  7. row — to paddle
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. scale — in music
  13. tear — to rip
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. safe — a strongbox
  16. bat — the animal
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. row — a line
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. tear — from crying

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