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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. can — to be able to
  3. fall — to drop
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. row — to paddle
  6. can — a tin
  7. can — a tin
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. degree — an amount
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. wound — an injury
  13. fall — to drop
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. degree — temperature
  17. wound — an injury
  18. row — a line
  19. chair — a leader
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. fall — the season
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. degree — from a university

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