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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: fall · rule · kick · row · pop · chest · deal · straw

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. chest — of your body
  3. pop — music
  4. fall — to drop
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. row — a line
  7. fall — the season
  8. chest — a box
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. rule — government
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. pop — soda
  14. row — to paddle
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. chest — of your body
  18. rule — a law
  19. fall — to drop
  20. pop — to visit
  21. deal — to handle
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. kick — in football
  24. row — a quarrel

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