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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. saw — the tool
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. spell — magic
  5. spell — a short time
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. chair — a leader
  8. hand — help
  9. hand — in cards
  10. date — the fruit
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. drill — the tool
  14. wake — a trail
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. drill — a practice
  17. drill — army training
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. spell — letters
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. saw — the tool
  24. date — on the calendar

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