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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. content — happy
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. fall — the season
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. craft — boats
  8. swing — in golf
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. swing — to play on
  11. content — the amount
  12. row — to paddle
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. mine — for digging
  15. swing — music
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. craft — a skill
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. fall — to drop
  23. fall — to drop
  24. row — a line

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