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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: spring · fine · row · file · bowl · foot · pit · rest

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. rest — what's left
  3. rest — a break
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. row — to paddle
  7. pit — in a race
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. pit — a hole
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. file — a tool
  12. foot — a measure
  13. file — a document
  14. rest — what's left
  15. spring — the season
  16. fine — all right
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. row — a line
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. file — a line of people
  22. spring — a coil
  23. fine — high quality
  24. spring — of water

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