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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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. squash — to crush
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. rock — a stone
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. cell — a phone
  8. content — happy
  9. row — a line
  10. content — the amount
  11. cell — in biology
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. row — to paddle
  14. present — there
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. bark — to shout
  17. rock — music
  18. present — a gift
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. present — the time now
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. squash — the sport

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