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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. mate — a partner
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. row — to paddle
  5. spring — of water
  6. last — finally
  7. last — to go on
  8. spring — the season
  9. hand — in cards
  10. mate — a friend
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. mate — to breed
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. shower — rain
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. hand — help
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. last — final
  21. spring — a coil
  22. row — a line
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. shower — to wash

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