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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 120 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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fall — the season
  5. present — the time now
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. present — a gift
  8. row — a line
  9. kid — to tease
  10. hand — in cards
  11. last — finally
  12. kid — child
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. row — to paddle
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. last — final
  17. fall — to drop
  18. present — there
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. hand — help
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. fall — to drop

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