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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. chair — a leader
  4. row — to paddle
  5. board — to get on
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. charge — electricity
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. last — to go on
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. last — finally
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. last — final
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. row — a line
  20. board — a committee
  21. charge — in control
  22. charge — a price
  23. bark — to shout
  24. board — a flat piece

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