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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 valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. game — wild animals
  5. game — a match
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. band — a music group
  11. object — to protest
  12. object — an aim
  13. band — a ring
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. cap — a hat
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. row — a line
  19. stem — to come from
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. cap — a lid
  22. row — to paddle
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. cap — of ice

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