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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. lean — to bend
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. drill — army training
  5. drill — the tool
  6. row — a line
  7. wound — an injury
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. land — a country
  11. ground — the earth
  12. drill — a practice
  13. ground — crushed
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. bass — low music
  16. lean — thin
  17. land — to come down
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. bass — the fish
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. ground — a position
  22. row — to paddle
  23. land — ground
  24. wound — an injury

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