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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: roll · kick · clip · cell · club · straw

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. club — for dancing
  3. cell — in biology
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. roll — a list
  6. clip — to cut
  7. roll — a cake
  8. club — for golf
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. cell — a phone
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. clip — for paper
  15. clip — a video
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. kick — in football
  18. club — a group

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