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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 president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. spring — of water
  3. file — a line of people
  4. spring — the season
  5. wind — moving air
  6. file — a tool
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. present — a gift
  10. present — the time now
  11. wind — moving air
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. shower — rain
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. shower — to wash
  16. present — there
  17. row — to paddle
  18. row — a line
  19. file — a document
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. squash — the sport
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. spring — a coil

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