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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 124 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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. rush — hurry
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. file — a tool
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. mate — a friend
  8. swing — in golf
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. file — a document
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. shower — to wash
  13. swing — to play on
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. mate — a partner
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. last — to go on
  18. swing — music
  19. last — final
  20. mate — to breed
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. file — a line of people
  23. shower — rain
  24. last — finally

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