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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 muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. track — a path
  3. tube — the underground
  4. track — to keep track
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — not warm
  8. tear — from crying
  9. game — wild animals
  10. tear — from crying
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. tube — a container
  13. current — of water
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. current — happening now
  16. track — a song
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. current — electric
  19. fine — high quality
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. tear — to rip
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. fine — all right
  24. game — a match

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