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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: track · straw · rash · bear · lean · march · row · saw

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. track — a song
  6. track — to keep track
  7. march — music
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. rash — hasty
  10. row — to paddle
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. rash — a series
  13. bear — the animal
  14. lean — thin
  15. saw — the tool
  16. march — the month
  17. row — a line
  18. bear — the animal
  19. march — the month
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. track — a path
  22. saw — the tool
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. straw — a straw man

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