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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 120 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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: spring · land · hand · foot · wind · mate · straw · mug

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. mug — a cup
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hand — help
  5. mug — to rob
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. land — to come down
  9. land — ground
  10. spring — a coil
  11. mate — a partner
  12. spring — of water
  13. spring — the season
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. wind — moving air
  17. mate — a friend
  18. mate — to breed
  19. land — a country
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. mug — a face
  22. wind — moving air
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. foot — a measure

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