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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. rash — a series
  3. drill — the tool
  4. drill — a practice
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. row — a line
  7. saw — the tool
  8. march — music
  9. drill — army training
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. march — the month
  13. fork — in a road
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. row — to paddle
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. march — the month
  19. saw — the tool
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. rash — hasty
  22. wind — moving air
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. fork — a garden tool

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