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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: hand · wind · foot · straw · fork · ruler · stem · cold

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. cold — an illness
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. fork — in a road
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. foot — a measure
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. stem — to come from
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — help
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. cold — not warm
  21. wind — moving air
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. foot — the bottom

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