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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. object — to protest
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. object — a thing
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. row — to paddle
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. row — a line
  10. rush — hurry
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. file — a line of people
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. bat — the animal
  17. lie — to recline
  18. file — a document
  19. file — a tool
  20. wind — moving air
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. object — an aim
  23. stem — to come from
  24. bat — in an idiom

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