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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 116 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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. fine — all right
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. shower — rain
  5. shower — to wash
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. row — to paddle
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. march — the month
  10. present — the time now
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. march — the month
  13. fine — high quality
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. present — a gift
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. clip — to cut
  20. clip — a video
  21. present — there
  22. march — music
  23. fork — in a road
  24. clip — for paper

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