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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.

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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: staff · row · bound · mouse · pitcher · kid · spell · march

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. spell — letters
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. march — the month
  5. bound — tied together
  6. march — the month
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. kid — to tease
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. bound — obliged
  11. spell — magic
  12. staff — a stick
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. spell — a short time
  15. kid — child
  16. staff — employees
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. row — to paddle
  19. march — music
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. staff — employees
  24. bound — certain

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