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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  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. hand — help
  2. row — to paddle
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. hand — in cards
  6. net — in sport
  7. land — a country
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. row — a line
  12. land — ground
  13. bear — the animal
  14. net — for catching
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. bear — the animal
  18. land — to come down
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. stem — to come from
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. bat — the animal
  23. net — after costs
  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