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

Word bank: straw · fall · pound · drill · scale · spring · wake · rest

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. spring — of water
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. drill — a practice
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. spring — a coil
  7. drill — the tool
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. wake — a trail
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. rest — what's left
  13. spring — the season
  14. drill — army training
  15. rest — a break
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. rest — what's left
  18. scale — in music
  19. fall — to drop
  20. fall — to drop
  21. scale — size or range
  22. fall — the season
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. pound — a weight

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