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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 120 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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · wake · land · degree · cell · file · hand · coach

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. row — to paddle
  3. cell — a phone
  4. degree — from a university
  5. land — to come down
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. hand — in cards
  8. cell — in biology
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. row — a line
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. land — ground
  14. file — a tool
  15. land — a country
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. degree — an amount
  19. wake — a trail
  20. degree — temperature
  21. file — a document
  22. file — a line of people
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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