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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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. staff — employees
  5. staff — a stick
  6. row — a line
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. spring — the season
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. row — to paddle
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. wake — a trail
  16. bat — the animal
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. spring — a coil
  19. spring — of water
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. staff — employees
  24. bat — for baseball

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