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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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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: wake · pound · straw · mug · row · plane · cap · chest

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. mug — a cup
  3. mug — a face
  4. cap — of ice
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. pound — a weight
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. cap — a hat
  9. cap — a lid
  10. mug — to rob
  11. wake — a trail
  12. chest — of your body
  13. row — a line
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. plane — a tool
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. row — to paddle
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. chest — of your body

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