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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. bank — for money
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — a box
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. bulb — for light
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. chest — of your body
  12. clip — for paper
  13. clip — a video
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. bank — for money
  16. shower — rain
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. shower — to wash
  19. bank — of a river
  20. kick — in football
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. clip — to cut
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. bulb — for light

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