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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  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. rock — music
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. hand — in cards
  4. file — a document
  5. pound — a weight
  6. rock — a stone
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. dip — to sink
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. hand — help
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. spell — a short time
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. file — a tool
  20. spell — magic
  21. file — a line of people
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. spell — letters
  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