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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 116 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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. deal — to handle
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. clip — to cut
  8. bat — the animal
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. kid — to tease
  12. rock — music
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. rock — a stone
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. clip — a video
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. kid — child
  20. row — to paddle
  21. clip — for paper
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. deal — an agreement

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