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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. pop — music
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. march — the month
  6. band — a ring
  7. band — a music group
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. current — happening now
  10. current — electric
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. pop — to visit
  13. march — music
  14. current — of water
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chest — a box
  18. march — the month
  19. chip — to eat
  20. pop — soda
  21. chest — of your body
  22. prune — to trim
  23. chip — for betting
  24. prune — to trim

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