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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. plane — a tool
  5. bark — to shout
  6. row — to paddle
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. chest — of your body
  9. pound — a weight
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. row — a line
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. mine — for digging
  16. chest — of your body
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. wave — of the sea

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