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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 had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. content — the amount
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. mate — a friend
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. cell — a phone
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. fork — in a road
  11. mate — a partner
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. mate — to breed
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. bat — the animal
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. content — happy
  23. cell — in biology
  24. row — a line

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