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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 116 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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. last — finally
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. row — a line
  7. cold — an illness
  8. mate — to breed
  9. spring — the season
  10. last — final
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. mate — a partner
  14. spring — a coil
  15. mate — a friend
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. spring — of water
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. wake — a trail
  22. last — to go on
  23. snap — to click
  24. pitcher — a jug

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