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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: row · bowl · mouse · pass · cold · tear

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. row — to paddle
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. cold — not warm
  9. tear — from crying
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. tear — from crying
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. pass — a permit
  15. cold — an illness
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. tear — to rip
  18. pass — to spend time

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