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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. rest — a break
  3. rock — music
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. object — a thing
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. rest — what's left
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. object — to protest
  11. kid — child
  12. object — an aim
  13. drill — a practice
  14. pitch — completely
  15. drill — the tool
  16. rock — a stone
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. cell — a phone
  20. row — a line
  21. kid — to tease
  22. row — to paddle
  23. cell — in biology
  24. drill — army training

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