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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. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. clip — for paper
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. face — to point toward
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. suit — in cards
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. face — part of the head
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. face — to confront
  17. clip — to cut
  18. cold — an illness
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. suit — clothes
  21. cold — not warm
  22. branch — a division
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. clip — a video

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