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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 120 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. David sat on the ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. swing — to play on
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. last — finally
  5. cold — not warm
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. court — of a king
  8. court — of law
  9. bank — of a river
  10. swing — music
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. row — a line
  13. cold — an illness
  14. row — to paddle
  15. bank — for money
  16. mine — for digging
  17. court — for sport
  18. bank — for money
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. swing — in golf
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. last — final
  23. last — to go on
  24. pound — a weight

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