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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 120 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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. row — to paddle
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. snap — to click
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. degree — from a university
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wind — moving air
  15. degree — temperature
  16. row — a line
  17. degree — an amount
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. bear — the animal
  21. wake — a trail
  22. bear — the animal
  23. wind — moving air
  24. nail — for a hammer

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