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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. cell — a phone
  3. pit — a hole
  4. face — to point toward
  5. cell — in biology
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. ball — a great time
  8. clip — a video
  9. clip — to cut
  10. pit — in a race
  11. face — to confront
  12. face — part of the head
  13. row — a line
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. band — a ring
  17. band — a music group
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. clip — for paper
  20. ball — a dance
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. ball — a round shape

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