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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  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 quarrel
  2. cap — a lid
  3. bank — for money
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. perch — the fish
  6. band — a ring
  7. bank — for money
  8. row — a line
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. fork — in a road
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. cap — of ice
  13. rule — a law
  14. rule — government
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. band — a music group
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. bank — of a river
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. cap — a hat
  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