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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 was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. clip — for paper
  5. firm — steady
  6. wake — a trail
  7. firm — a company
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. face — part of the head
  10. chest — of your body
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. face — to point toward
  14. saw — the tool
  15. saw — the tool
  16. face — to confront
  17. firm — decided
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. chest — of your body
  20. clip — to cut
  21. wind — moving air
  22. clip — a video
  23. chest — a box
  24. wind — to turn a key

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