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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. row — a line
  3. wind — moving air
  4. saw — the tool
  5. saw — the tool
  6. row — to paddle
  7. foot — a measure
  8. wind — moving air
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. key — for a lock
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. file — a tool
  13. key — the most important part
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. file — a line of people
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. key — in music
  21. date — the fruit
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. file — a document

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