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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. spell — magic
  6. row — to paddle
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. pop — soda
  9. game — wild animals
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. squash — to crush
  13. squash — the sport
  14. plane — a tool
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. pop — to visit
  17. row — a line
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. fork — in a road
  20. pop — music
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. spell — letters
  23. spell — a short time
  24. game — a match

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