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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. tube — the underground
  3. squash — to crush
  4. scale — size or range
  5. rest — a break
  6. row — a line
  7. tear — from crying
  8. squash — the sport
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. rest — what's left
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. capital — money
  14. tear — from crying
  15. rest — what's left
  16. row — to paddle
  17. scale — in music
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. capital — a city
  22. tear — to rip
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. tube — a container

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