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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. land — to come down
  5. content — the amount
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. spell — letters
  8. march — the month
  9. spell — a short time
  10. content — happy
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. spell — magic
  16. row — a line
  17. march — music
  18. march — the month
  19. land — ground
  20. perch — the fish
  21. land — a country
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. straw — dry grass

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