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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: last · content · straw · land · snap · toast · trunk · cell

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. cell — a phone
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. last — to go on
  9. snap — to click
  10. content — happy
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. land — a country
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. content — the amount
  16. last — final
  17. toast — bread
  18. cell — in biology
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. land — to come down
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. last — finally
  24. land — ground

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