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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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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: wind · club · cue · file · straw · field · wave · bay

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. cue — a signal
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. club — for golf
  5. field — farmland
  6. file — a document
  7. club — a group
  8. club — for dancing
  9. file — a line of people
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. wind — moving air
  12. field — a subject
  13. wind — moving air
  14. cue — a hint
  15. field — for sport
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. cue — for pool
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. file — a tool
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. wave — of the sea

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