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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. last — to go on
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. wound — an injury
  5. file — a document
  6. rest — what's left
  7. wound — an injury
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. last — final
  10. mate — a friend
  11. row — a line
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. rest — a break
  14. mate — to breed
  15. mate — a partner
  16. file — a tool
  17. file — a line of people
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. last — finally
  20. foot — a measure
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. row — to paddle
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. rest — what's left

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