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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 had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. spring — of water
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. row — to paddle
  7. pitch — completely
  8. track — to keep track
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. spring — the season
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. spring — a coil
  16. court — for sport
  17. stem — to come from
  18. track — a path
  19. court — of a king
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. track — a song
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. court — of law
  24. row — a line

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