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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. file — a document
  3. rash — hasty
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. snap — to click
  6. file — a tool
  7. file — a line of people
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — an illness
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. row — a line
  14. perch — the fish
  15. fall — to drop
  16. fall — to drop
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. fall — the season
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. pitch — completely
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. cold — not warm
  23. rash — a series
  24. perch — for a bird

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