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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: row · land · stick · straw · mark · rest · content · fan

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. mark — a grade
  7. content — happy
  8. row — a line
  9. land — to come down
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. land — ground
  12. rest — what's left
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. mark — a trace
  16. row — to paddle
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. land — a country
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. rest — a break
  23. rest — what's left
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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