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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 had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  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 — a quarrel
  2. hand — in cards
  3. march — the month
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. march — music
  6. pit — a hole
  7. track — a path
  8. march — the month
  9. track — to keep track
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. row — a line
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. row — to paddle
  16. wax — to grow
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. pit — in a race
  19. track — a song
  20. hand — help
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. cold — not warm
  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