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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. row — a line
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. row — to paddle
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. bass — low music
  9. chair — a leader
  10. last — final
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. drill — army training
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. drill — the tool
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. prune — to trim
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. last — to go on
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. prune — to trim
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. drill — a practice
  24. bass — the fish

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