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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 124 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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. row — to paddle
  3. roll — a cake
  4. last — to go on
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. last — final
  7. file — a document
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. shower — rain
  10. last — finally
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. roll — a list
  13. file — a line of people
  14. wake — a trail
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. file — a tool
  17. row — a line
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. chip — to eat
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. chip — for betting
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. shower — to wash

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