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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 120 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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. object — to protest
  3. row — a line
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. clip — to cut
  7. clip — a video
  8. row — to paddle
  9. clip — for paper
  10. spring — a coil
  11. fall — the season
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. spring — of water
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. object — a thing
  17. pound — a weight
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. spring — the season
  21. fall — to drop
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. ruler — a monarch
  24. fall — to drop

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