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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. kid — to tease
  4. track — a song
  5. track — a path
  6. sharp — clever
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. court — of a king
  10. last — to go on
  11. court — for sport
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. wind — moving air
  15. row — to paddle
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. last — finally
  18. kid — child
  19. court — of law
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. wind — moving air
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. track — to keep track
  24. last — final

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