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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. land — ground
  4. land — to come down
  5. current — of water
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. current — happening now
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. degree — an amount
  11. land — a country
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. squash — the sport
  15. degree — temperature
  16. degree — from a university
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. cold — an illness
  20. current — electric
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. squash — to crush
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. cold — not warm

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