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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. game — a match
  4. row — to paddle
  5. last — final
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. bark — to shout
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. mark — a grade
  12. mark — a trace
  13. spring — a coil
  14. spring — the season
  15. mine — for digging
  16. last — to go on
  17. game — wild animals
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. row — a line
  21. last — finally
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. spring — of water

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