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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. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. chest — a box
  5. swing — music
  6. chest — of your body
  7. race — humankind
  8. roll — a cake
  9. mine — for digging
  10. roll — a list
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. swing — to play on
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. bat — the animal
  15. lie — to recline
  16. race — the arms race
  17. chest — of your body
  18. race — a contest
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. swing — in golf

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