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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. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. row — a line
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pop — music
  9. board — a committee
  10. cold — not warm
  11. pop — to visit
  12. rest — what's left
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. pop — soda
  20. board — to get on
  21. rest — a break
  22. row — to paddle
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. cold — an illness

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