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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 muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. track — to keep track
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. row — to paddle
  7. craft — a skill
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. shower — rain
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. content — happy
  14. wake — a trail
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. game — wild animals
  17. content — the amount
  18. row — a line
  19. craft — boats
  20. game — a match
  21. shower — to wash
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. track — a song

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