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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. row — a line
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. row — to paddle
  6. net — in sport
  7. net — for catching
  8. cold — not warm
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. foot — a measure
  13. snap — to click
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. kick — in football
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. cold — an illness
  20. net — after costs
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. pound — a weight
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. bowl — a football final

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