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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. hand — in cards
  5. row — to paddle
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. perch — the fish
  8. band — a music group
  9. band — a ring
  10. spell — a short time
  11. tear — from crying
  12. row — a line
  13. tear — to rip
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. spell — magic
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. march — the month
  18. hand — help
  19. tear — from crying
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. march — music
  22. spell — letters
  23. march — the month
  24. perch — for a bird

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