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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. land — to come down
  4. drill — a practice
  5. row — to paddle
  6. mate — to breed
  7. drill — the tool
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. bass — low music
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. mate — a friend
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. rest — a break
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. drill — army training
  17. row — a line
  18. rest — what's left
  19. bass — the fish
  20. land — a country
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. rest — what's left
  24. land — ground

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