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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: straw · hand · swing · bear · prune · spell · foot · spring

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. spell — letters
  3. spell — magic
  4. spring — the season
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. spring — of water
  7. hand — in cards
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. spell — a short time
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. swing — to play on
  12. prune — to trim
  13. hand — help
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. spring — a coil
  16. bear — the animal
  17. prune — to trim
  18. bear — the animal
  19. swing — music
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. swing — in golf
  23. foot — a measure
  24. hand — part of the body

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