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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  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. row — a quarrel
  2. row — a line
  3. chest — a box
  4. row — to paddle
  5. game — wild animals
  6. file — a tool
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. band — a music group
  11. root — of a word
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. root — the cause
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. chest — of your body
  17. band — a ring
  18. root — of a plant
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. file — a document
  21. kick — in football
  22. game — a match
  23. chest — of your body
  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