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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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. land — ground
  4. stock — shares
  5. lean — to bend
  6. cell — a phone
  7. cell — in biology
  8. pit — in a race
  9. rock — a stone
  10. land — a country
  11. file — a document
  12. rock — music
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. file — a tool
  16. row — a line
  17. pit — a hole
  18. stock — goods
  19. row — to paddle
  20. land — to come down
  21. lean — thin
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. file — a line of people
  24. cell — in a prison

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