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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: date · current · craft · row · content · straw · fall · wave

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  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. content — happy
  2. row — to paddle
  3. row — a line
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. craft — a skill
  6. craft — boats
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. fall — to drop
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. fall — the season
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. fall — to drop
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. content — the amount
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. current — happening now
  18. current — electric
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. date — the fruit
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. current — of water
  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