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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. fall — to drop
  3. drill — army training
  4. row — to paddle
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. file — a document
  7. file — a tool
  8. drill — a practice
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. can — a tin
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. fall — the season
  13. fall — to drop
  14. row — a line
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. drill — the tool
  18. can — a tin
  19. content — happy
  20. squash — to crush
  21. content — the amount
  22. squash — the sport
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. file — a line of people

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