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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  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. row — to paddle
  2. row — a line
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. rest — what's left
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. rest — a break
  10. game — wild animals
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. rest — what's left
  13. content — happy
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. content — the amount
  18. game — a match
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. dip — to sink
  21. cold — not warm
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. content — videos and posts
  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