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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 · clip · cold · rock · roll · mate · cabinet · arm

  1. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. mate — a partner
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. rock — music
  6. mate — to breed
  7. clip — to cut
  8. mate — a friend
  9. roll — a list
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. clip — a video
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. cold — an illness
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. roll — a cake
  18. clip — for paper
  19. row — a line
  20. cold — not warm
  21. row — to paddle
  22. rock — a stone
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. arm — part of the body

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