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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. row — to paddle
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. race — a contest
  10. stem — to come from
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. wound — an injury
  13. race — humankind
  14. race — the arms race
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. row — a line
  23. wake — a trail
  24. straw — dry grass

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