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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 116 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 soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. track — a song
  3. drill — the tool
  4. track — a path
  5. row — to paddle
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. current — happening now
  8. land — a country
  9. drill — a practice
  10. current — electric
  11. mark — a trace
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. land — to come down
  15. cold — not warm
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. row — a line
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. land — ground
  20. current — of water
  21. cold — an illness
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. track — to keep track
  24. mark — a grade

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