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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. spell — magic
  4. file — a line of people
  5. file — a document
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. row — to paddle
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. hand — help
  11. root — the cause
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. root — of a word
  14. root — of a plant
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. spell — letters
  17. spell — a short time
  18. file — a tool
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. hand — in cards
  21. row — a line
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. sharp — clever
  24. snap — to click

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