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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  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. shower — a meteor shower
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. shower — to wash
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. fork — in a road
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. file — a tool
  9. shower — rain
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. bore — to tire
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. rash — a series
  15. squash — the sport
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. file — a document
  18. squash — to crush
  19. rash — hasty
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — not warm
  23. bore — to drill
  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