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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. staff — a stick
  3. wake — a trail
  4. cold — an illness
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. staff — employees
  7. mark — a trace
  8. staff — employees
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. content — the amount
  11. spell — letters
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. perch — the fish
  14. spell — a short time
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. spell — magic
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. content — happy
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. cold — not warm
  24. mark — a grade

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