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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. present — the time now
  3. present — a gift
  4. content — the amount
  5. ball — a dance
  6. ball — a great time
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. present — there
  9. track — to keep track
  10. tear — from crying
  11. content — happy
  12. track — a path
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. tear — to rip
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. tear — from crying
  18. branch — a division
  19. track — a song
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. shower — rain
  23. shower — to wash
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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