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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 120 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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. bore — to drill
  3. staff — employees
  4. march — music
  5. wake — a trail
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. staff — employees
  9. march — the month
  10. shower — rain
  11. file — a tool
  12. bore — to tire
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. chest — of your body
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. staff — a stick
  17. march — the month
  18. chest — of your body
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. shower — to wash
  21. file — a line of people
  22. chest — a box
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. file — a document

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