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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. track — to keep track
  3. pop — soda
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. track — a song
  7. cold — an illness
  8. game — a match
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. saw — the tool
  14. cold — not warm
  15. pass — a permit
  16. track — a path
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. game — wild animals
  19. saw — the tool
  20. pop — music
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. pop — to visit
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. row — a line

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