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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 116 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 don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. rest — what's left
  3. rock — music
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. fine — all right
  6. fine — high quality
  7. rock — a stone
  8. last — to go on
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. rest — a break
  11. hand — in cards
  12. drill — a practice
  13. last — final
  14. drill — the tool
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. row — a line
  17. drill — army training
  18. hand — help
  19. rest — what's left
  20. row — to paddle
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. mine — for digging
  24. last — finally

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