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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 124 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've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. pit — in a race
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. staff — a stick
  7. row — a line
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. chest — of your body
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. chest — of your body
  12. spell — letters
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. staff — employees
  15. chest — a box
  16. row — to paddle
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. pit — a hole
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. staff — employees
  24. spell — magic

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