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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. clip — for paper
  6. march — music
  7. clip — a video
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. march — the month
  16. clip — to cut
  17. content — happy
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. march — the month
  21. row — a line
  22. wake — a trail
  23. content — the amount
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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