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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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Word bank
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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 · last · foot · track · clip · rash · land

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. last — final
  3. land — a country
  4. clip — to cut
  5. land — ground
  6. land — to come down
  7. foot — a measure
  8. last — finally
  9. row — to paddle
  10. clip — for paper
  11. last — to go on
  12. row — a line
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. track — a path
  15. track — a song
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. rash — hasty
  22. rash — a series
  23. track — to keep track
  24. clip — a video

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