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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. squash — to crush
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. game — wild animals
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. craft — boats
  8. pop — soda
  9. row — a line
  10. squash — the sport
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. fall — the season
  14. pop — to visit
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. chair — a leader
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. craft — a skill
  20. pop — music
  21. row — to paddle
  22. game — a match
  23. fall — to drop
  24. sharp — clever

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