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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  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 — to paddle
  2. content — happy
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. cold — an illness
  5. band — a ring
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. band — a music group
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. content — the amount
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. vault — a safe
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. cold — not warm
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. plane — a tool
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bat — for baseball
  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