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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: wind · nail · cue · pitcher · straw · court · calf · cold

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. court — of law
  3. cold — an illness
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. court — for sport
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. cue — for pool
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. cue — a hint
  13. cue — a signal
  14. wind — moving air
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. wind — moving air
  23. court — of a king
  24. wind — to turn a key

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