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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. file — a tool
  3. mark — a trace
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. squash — to crush
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. last — finally
  8. key — the most important part
  9. file — a document
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. cold — an illness
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. squash — the sport
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. key — for a lock
  17. file — a line of people
  18. last — to go on
  19. last — final
  20. key — in music
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. cold — not warm
  23. mark — a grade
  24. row — to paddle

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