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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: stick · straw · cold · fall · roll · hand · mug · stem

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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 — an illness
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. mug — to rob
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. stem — to come from
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. hand — help
  9. cold — not warm
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. fall — the season
  13. fall — to drop
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. roll — a cake
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. fall — to drop
  18. mug — a face
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. roll — a list
  21. hand — in cards
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. mug — a cup

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