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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. shower — rain
  4. row — to paddle
  5. mate — a partner
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. scale — size or range
  8. row — a line
  9. mate — to breed
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. cell — in biology
  13. mate — a friend
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. scale — in music
  16. shower — to wash
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. bark — to shout

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