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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. row — a line
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. rock — music
  6. field — a subject
  7. deal — to handle
  8. mine — for digging
  9. field — for sport
  10. kid — child
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. degree — from a university
  13. kid — to tease
  14. mate — a friend
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. degree — an amount
  17. field — farmland
  18. mate — a partner
  19. degree — temperature
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. mate — to breed
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. rock — a stone
  24. mine — an explosive

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