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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. kid — child
  3. game — wild animals
  4. spell — magic
  5. kid — to tease
  6. row — a line
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. row — to paddle
  9. rest — what's left
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. lean — to bend
  12. spell — letters
  13. rock — music
  14. lean — thin
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. rest — a break
  19. spell — a short time
  20. craft — a skill
  21. rock — a stone
  22. craft — boats
  23. game — a match
  24. rest — what's left

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