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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. drill — a practice
  4. shower — rain
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. row — to paddle
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. drill — the tool
  10. wake — a trail
  11. drill — army training
  12. shower — to wash
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. row — a line
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. fork — in a road
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. fork — to eat with

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