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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 water is too ________________.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. row — to paddle
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. ball — a dance
  6. kick — in football
  7. row — a line
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. ball — a great time
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. rock — a stone
  13. wake — a trail
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. rock — music
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. cold — an illness
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. row — a quarrel

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