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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 was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. bear — the animal
  6. file — a document
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. spell — a short time
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. row — to paddle
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. sharp — clever
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. row — a line
  15. ball — a dance
  16. file — a tool
  17. file — a line of people
  18. date — the fruit
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. spell — letters
  22. bear — the animal
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. spell — magic

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