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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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Word bank
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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: court · sharp · straw · net · rush · firm · file · kick

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. net — after costs
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. net — for catching
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. rush — hurry
  8. firm — a company
  9. file — a document
  10. firm — decided
  11. court — for sport
  12. net — in sport
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. court — of a king
  15. firm — steady
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. kick — in football
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. file — a line of people
  22. file — a tool
  23. court — of law
  24. sharp — clever

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