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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 116 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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. file — a tool
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. drill — the tool
  8. saw — the tool
  9. file — a line of people
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. hand — in cards
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. drill — a practice
  16. drill — army training
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. file — a document
  19. saw — the tool
  20. hand — help
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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