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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.

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 · chest · coach · spell · scale · bark · kid · ball

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. row — to paddle
  3. scale — in music
  4. row — a line
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. spell — letters
  9. chest — of your body
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. chest — a box
  12. ball — a dance
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. kid — to tease
  15. spell — a short time
  16. chest — of your body
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. bark — to shout
  19. spell — magic
  20. scale — size or range
  21. kid — child
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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