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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. band — a music group
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. pound — a weight
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. cold — an illness
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. row — a line
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. cold — not warm
  16. band — a ring
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. bear — the animal
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. bear — the animal
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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