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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 had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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. file — a document
  4. row — to paddle
  5. firm — a company
  6. land — a country
  7. land — ground
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. firm — steady
  11. mine — for digging
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. firm — decided
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. bat — the animal
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. file — a tool
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. file — a line of people
  24. land — to come down

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