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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: clip · lash · mouse · chest · cold · bulb · straw · date

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. chest — a box
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. chest — of your body
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. clip — to cut
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. chest — of your body
  13. clip — for paper
  14. cold — an illness
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. date — the fruit
  17. clip — a video
  18. bulb — for light
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. bulb — for light

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