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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 120 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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. march — the month
  5. bound — certain
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. bound — tied together
  8. file — a document
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. file — a line of people
  11. march — the month
  12. wake — a trail
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. bound — obliged
  15. march — music
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. file — a tool
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. row — to paddle
  23. row — a line
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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