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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: rock · rest · rush · firm · clip · row · rash · land

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  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. rush — hurry
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. row — a line
  4. rest — a break
  5. rock — a stone
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. rest — what's left
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. rash — a series
  10. rash — hasty
  11. land — ground
  12. row — to paddle
  13. clip — to cut
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. firm — steady
  16. firm — decided
  17. rest — what's left
  18. rock — music
  19. clip — for paper
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. land — a country
  22. firm — a company
  23. land — to come down
  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