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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. bark — to shout
  3. net — for catching
  4. hand — help
  5. net — after costs
  6. net — in sport
  7. rock — music
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. hand — in cards
  10. row — a line
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. track — a song
  14. mate — a partner
  15. track — to keep track
  16. rock — a stone
  17. mate — a friend
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. row — to paddle
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. track — a path

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