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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. row — a line
  3. pop — music
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. row — to paddle
  7. bound — certain
  8. track — to keep track
  9. bound — tied together
  10. track — a song
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — an illness
  13. pop — to visit
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. bound — obliged
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. track — a path
  21. pop — soda
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. cold — not warm
  24. kid — child

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