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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 116 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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. bass — low music
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. prune — to trim
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. cold — not warm
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. bound — tied together
  10. bound — obliged
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. board — a committee
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. board — to get on
  15. file — a tool
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. prune — to trim
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. file — a document
  21. bound — certain
  22. file — a line of people
  23. bass — the fish
  24. nail — on a finger

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