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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 · mouse · file · ground · pop · perch · cold · lash

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. ground — the earth
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. cold — not warm
  5. pop — music
  6. file — a tool
  7. ground — crushed
  8. pop — soda
  9. cold — an illness
  10. ground — a position
  11. row — a line
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. row — to paddle
  15. file — a line of people
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. file — a document
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. pop — to visit
  24. perch — the fish

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