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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: swing · row · drill · degree · straw · fall · squash · file

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. drill — army training
  3. swing — in golf
  4. fall — to drop
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. degree — an amount
  8. row — a line
  9. fall — the season
  10. row — to paddle
  11. fall — to drop
  12. degree — temperature
  13. drill — the tool
  14. degree — from a university
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. squash — to crush
  17. drill — a practice
  18. swing — to play on
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. swing — music
  21. squash — the sport
  22. file — a document
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. file — a line of people

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