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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. file — a tool
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. degree — temperature
  5. lean — to bend
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. file — a line of people
  11. snap — to click
  12. row — to paddle
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. degree — an amount
  15. wake — a trail
  16. drill — the tool
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. degree — from a university
  19. drill — a practice
  20. file — a document
  21. drill — army training
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. lean — thin
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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