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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. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. wind — moving air
  3. row — to paddle
  4. saw — the tool
  5. shower — to wash
  6. mine — for digging
  7. row — a line
  8. march — the month
  9. shower — rain
  10. march — music
  11. wind — moving air
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. march — the month
  14. field — a subject
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. saw — the tool
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. field — farmland
  23. field — for sport
  24. row — a quarrel

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