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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: cap · chest · clip · ruler · file · mark · snap · straw

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. chest — of your body
  4. cap — of ice
  5. snap — to click
  6. file — a line of people
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. file — a tool
  10. mark — a grade
  11. chest — a box
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. cap — a hat
  15. mark — a trace
  16. cap — a lid
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — for paper
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. file — a document
  22. chest — of your body
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. clip — to cut

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