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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 ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  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. rest — what's left
  3. key — for a lock
  4. sharp — clever
  5. row — a line
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. rest — a break
  8. key — the most important part
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. toast — bread
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. rest — what's left
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. cold — an illness
  23. key — in music
  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