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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. row — a line
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. last — finally
  9. last — to go on
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. game — a match
  12. row — to paddle
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. content — the amount
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a document
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. last — final
  22. file — a tool
  23. content — happy
  24. content — videos and posts

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