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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  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. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. hand — in cards
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. object — a thing
  8. branch — a division
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. cold — an illness
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. object — to protest
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. deal — to handle
  18. object — an aim
  19. hand — help
  20. sharp — clever
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. straw — dry grass
  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