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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 · sharp · fan · march · ground · land · ruler · row

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. ground — crushed
  3. land — ground
  4. land — a country
  5. row — a line
  6. rock — music
  7. march — the month
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. row — to paddle
  11. land — to come down
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. ground — the earth
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. ground — a position
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. sharp — clever
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. rock — a stone

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