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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. mine — for digging
  3. firm — decided
  4. bark — to shout
  5. firm — a company
  6. last — final
  7. band — a ring
  8. band — a music group
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. last — to go on
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. last — finally
  13. row — to paddle
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. firm — steady
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. cell — in biology
  19. cell — a phone
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. row — a line
  24. band — a rubber band

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