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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 bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. row — to paddle
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. wake — a trail
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. land — ground
  15. row — a line
  16. land — to come down
  17. land — a country
  18. cold — not warm
  19. sharp — clever
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. pitcher — a jug

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