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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  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. rock — music
  3. swing — to play on
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. row — a line
  6. swing — in golf
  7. court — of law
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. bass — low music
  10. kick — in football
  11. swing — music
  12. tube — the underground
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. bass — the fish
  15. last — finally
  16. rock — a stone
  17. last — to go on
  18. last — final
  19. court — of a king
  20. court — for sport
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. row — to paddle
  23. rock — to move gently
  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