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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 116 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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. game — wild animals
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. rush — hurry
  7. row — a line
  8. kick — in football
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. face — part of the head
  11. face — to point toward
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. game — a match
  14. face — to confront
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. content — happy
  19. wind — moving air
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. content — the amount
  22. wind — moving air
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. content — videos and posts

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