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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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. chair — a professorship
  4. toast — bread
  5. prune — to trim
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. court — of law
  12. chair — a leader
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. prune — to trim
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. content — happy
  18. content — the amount
  19. shower — rain
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. shower — to wash
  22. court — of a king
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. court — for sport

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