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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: straw · last · bark · cold · foot · net · firm · row

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. last — finally
  3. cold — an illness
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. net — after costs
  6. cold — not warm
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. net — for catching
  10. foot — a measure
  11. row — a line
  12. firm — a company
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. row — to paddle
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. last — final
  20. firm — decided
  21. net — in sport
  22. firm — steady
  23. bark — to shout
  24. last — to go on

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