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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 120 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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. fall — to drop
  3. chest — of your body
  4. row — a line
  5. fall — the season
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. current — of water
  8. bark — to shout
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. chest — a box
  11. fall — to drop
  12. bat — the animal
  13. current — happening now
  14. row — to paddle
  15. capital — money
  16. capital — a city
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. current — electric
  19. foot — a measure
  20. chest — of your body
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. bat — in an idiom

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