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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. game — a match
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. rock — music
  5. last — finally
  6. plane — a tool
  7. bound — certain
  8. last — final
  9. rule — a law
  10. roll — a cake
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. bound — obliged
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. row — to paddle
  18. rock — a stone
  19. rule — government
  20. bound — tied together
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. row — a line
  23. game — wild animals
  24. roll — a list

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