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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 would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. kid — child
  3. row — a line
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. rest — what's left
  6. deal — to handle
  7. lean — to bend
  8. degree — from a university
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. spell — magic
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. rest — what's left
  14. row — to paddle
  15. spell — letters
  16. fork — in a road
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. spell — a short time
  19. degree — temperature
  20. lean — thin
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. degree — an amount
  23. kid — to tease
  24. row — a quarrel

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