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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. roll — a cake
  5. fine — all right
  6. mine — for digging
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. row — to paddle
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. roll — a list
  12. row — a line
  13. rock — a stone
  14. ground — the earth
  15. ground — crushed
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. ground — a position
  19. fine — high quality
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. roll — on a roll

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