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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. row — a line
  3. snap — to click
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. spring — of water
  6. rock — music
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. cell — in biology
  9. club — for golf
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. spring — a coil
  12. perch — the fish
  13. capital — money
  14. club — a group
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. club — for dancing
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. capital — a city
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. rock — a stone
  23. cell — a phone
  24. spring — the season

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