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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. key — the most important part
  5. pound — a weight
  6. clip — to cut
  7. mine — for digging
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. key — for a lock
  11. ball — a great time
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. clip — for paper
  14. ball — a dance
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. lean — thin
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. key — in music
  19. lean — to bend
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. clip — a video
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. straw — dry grass

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