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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 116 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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. row — a line
  3. capital — money
  4. file — a document
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. file — a line of people
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. march — music
  12. sharp — clever
  13. pitch — completely
  14. rash — a series
  15. march — the month
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. capital — a city
  18. file — a tool
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. rash — hasty
  21. march — the month
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. stem — to come from
  24. stem — of a plant

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