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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 assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. row — a line
  3. fine — high quality
  4. file — a tool
  5. net — after costs
  6. file — a line of people
  7. wake — a trail
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. rest — what's left
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. net — for catching
  12. lie — to recline
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. file — a document
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. net — in sport
  18. row — to paddle
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. rest — what's left
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. rest — a break
  23. capital — money
  24. capital — a city

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