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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: kid · board · sharp · stem · row · fine · last · pop

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. last — to go on
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. fine — all right
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. kid — to tease
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. row — to paddle
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. sharp — clever
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. board — to get on
  13. stem — to come from
  14. pop — soda
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. pop — to visit
  17. pop — music
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. fine — high quality
  20. last — finally
  21. kid — child
  22. board — a committee
  23. row — a line
  24. stem — of a plant

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