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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. bound — obliged
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. row — to paddle
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. sharp — clever
  7. game — wild animals
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. row — a line
  10. bound — tied together
  11. roll — a cake
  12. mine — for digging
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. track — to keep track
  15. tear — from crying
  16. roll — a list
  17. game — a match
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. track — a song
  21. tear — to rip
  22. bound — certain
  23. track — a path
  24. tear — from crying

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