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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 120 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: present · club · rock · chest · wind · straw

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. chest — of your body
  4. club — for dancing
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. rock — music
  7. club — for golf
  8. chest — of your body
  9. club — a group
  10. chest — a box
  11. rock — a stone
  12. present — the time now
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. wind — moving air
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. present — a gift
  17. wind — moving air
  18. straw — a straw man

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