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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. row — to paddle
  4. present — the time now
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. field — farmland
  8. shower — rain
  9. clip — for paper
  10. present — there
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. present — a gift
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. pass — a permit
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. clip — a video
  18. shower — to wash
  19. dip — to sink
  20. clip — to cut
  21. field — a subject
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. field — for sport
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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