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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. firm — steady
  4. capital — a city
  5. tube — the underground
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. file — a line of people
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. capital — money
  13. wind — moving air
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. row — a line
  16. tube — a container
  17. wind — moving air
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. firm — a company
  21. firm — decided
  22. file — a document
  23. file — a tool
  24. tube — in a tire

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