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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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. wound — an injury
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. sharp — clever
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. scale — size or range
  15. scale — in music
  16. swing — to play on
  17. wound — an injury
  18. key — in music
  19. mine — for digging
  20. key — for a lock
  21. key — the most important part
  22. swing — music
  23. swing — in golf
  24. mine — an explosive

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