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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. When will it ________________ you to start?
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. march — the month
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. suit — in cards
  5. row — to paddle
  6. tube — the underground
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. bark — to shout
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. cell — a phone
  12. march — the month
  13. suit — clothes
  14. march — music
  15. suit — to fit
  16. wound — an injury
  17. cell — in biology
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. wound — an injury
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. tube — a container
  24. row — a line

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