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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. capital — money
  3. row — to paddle
  4. current — of water
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. scale — size or range
  7. stem — to come from
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. current — electric
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. current — happening now
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. cold — not warm
  16. snap — to click
  17. capital — a city
  18. scale — in music
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. cold — an illness
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. wave — of the sea

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