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

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. toast — bread
  3. date — the fruit
  4. row — a line
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. rock — a stone
  8. tear — to rip
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. tear — from crying
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. row — to paddle
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. rock — music
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. field — for sport
  21. field — farmland
  22. field — a subject
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. tear — from crying

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