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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. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. file — a tool
  5. wake — a trail
  6. chest — of your body
  7. dip — to sink
  8. file — a document
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. chest — of your body
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. clip — to cut
  15. pound — a weight
  16. clip — a video
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. clip — for paper
  19. chest — a box
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. file — a line of people
  24. ruler — for measuring

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