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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. drill — the tool
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. cell — in biology
  5. lean — thin
  6. key — in music
  7. lean — to bend
  8. land — a country
  9. row — to paddle
  10. key — for a lock
  11. drill — army training
  12. cold — an illness
  13. key — the most important part
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. row — a line
  16. bass — the fish
  17. drill — a practice
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. bass — low music
  20. land — ground
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. cell — a phone

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