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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 116 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.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. cold — not warm
  6. spell — a short time
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. row — a line
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. row — to paddle
  12. cold — an illness
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. spell — letters
  15. spell — magic
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. chair — a leader

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