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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. rest — what's left
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. drill — army training
  6. cold — not warm
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. rest — a break
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. row — a line
  12. swing — to play on
  13. cold — an illness
  14. row — to paddle
  15. drill — a practice
  16. swing — music
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. swing — in golf
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. rock — a stone
  21. rock — music
  22. drill — the tool
  23. rest — what's left
  24. fan — a supporter

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