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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. mine — for digging
  3. march — the month
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. row — a line
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. march — music
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. land — a country
  10. wake — a trail
  11. last — to go on
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. last — final
  14. march — the month
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. last — finally
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. snap — to click
  20. land — ground
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. dip — to sink
  23. land — to come down
  24. dip — to dunk

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