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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 120 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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. foot — a measure
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. row — a line
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. band — a music group
  10. fall — the season
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. fall — to drop
  14. row — to paddle
  15. fall — to drop
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. bat — the animal
  21. craft — a skill
  22. craft — boats
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. band — a ring

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