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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 124 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. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. chest — a box
  3. pop — music
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. row — a line
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. chest — of your body
  8. pop — to visit
  9. hand — help
  10. chest — of your body
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. row — to paddle
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. rash — hasty
  15. hand — in cards
  16. sharp — clever
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. rash — a series
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. board — a committee
  22. rush — hurry
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. pop — soda

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