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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.

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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: row · clip · straw · lean · racket · field · wave · rash

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. lean — to bend
  5. rash — a series
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. row — to paddle
  9. rash — hasty
  10. clip — to cut
  11. field — a subject
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. clip — a video
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. field — farmland
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. row — a line
  21. lean — thin
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. field — for sport
  24. clip — for paper

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