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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 had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. tube — a container
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. pop — soda
  5. fork — in a road
  6. row — a line
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. pop — to visit
  9. wind — moving air
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. pop — music
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. game — a match
  16. tube — the underground
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. mine — for digging
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. wind — moving air
  21. game — wild animals
  22. shower — rain
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. shower — to wash

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