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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. fall — the season
  3. mate — a friend
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. spell — magic
  9. mate — to breed
  10. march — music
  11. mate — a partner
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. rush — hurry
  16. fall — to drop
  17. fall — to drop
  18. march — the month
  19. spell — a short time
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. spell — letters
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. pound — a weight
  24. wake — a trail

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