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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. drill — the tool
  7. last — final
  8. craft — boats
  9. land — to come down
  10. deal — to handle
  11. row — a line
  12. last — to go on
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. land — ground
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. last — finally
  17. drill — army training
  18. row — to paddle
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. craft — a skill
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. land — a country
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. drill — a practice

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