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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. cold — not warm
  3. pit — in a race
  4. pit — a hole
  5. firm — steady
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. track — a song
  9. cold — an illness
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. row — to paddle
  13. chip — to eat
  14. row — a line
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. track — a path
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. firm — a company
  19. firm — decided
  20. track — to keep track
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. rock — a stone
  23. chip — for betting
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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