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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. row — a line
  3. shower — to wash
  4. spring — a coil
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. last — to go on
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. shower — rain
  9. last — final
  10. bore — to drill
  11. row — to paddle
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. bore — to tire
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. rash — a series
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. last — finally
  20. spring — of water
  21. rash — hasty
  22. spring — the season
  23. pitch — completely
  24. pitch — a sports field

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