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

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. chest — of your body
  3. hand — help
  4. row — a line
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. hand — in cards
  9. field — farmland
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. chest — a box
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. field — for sport
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. field — a subject
  18. pitcher — in baseball

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