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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. file — a line of people
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. row — to paddle
  7. pop — to visit
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. pop — soda
  10. plane — a tool
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. file — a tool
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. pop — music
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. stem — to come from
  19. file — a document
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. row — a line
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. patient — a sick person

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