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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. spell — letters
  4. net — for catching
  5. rock — music
  6. row — to paddle
  7. game — wild animals
  8. game — a match
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. net — in sport
  13. rock — a stone
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. net — after costs
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. spell — a short time
  19. sharp — clever
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. spell — magic
  22. row — a line
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. sharp — with an edge

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