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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: board · pound · row · kid · march · bear · file · rest

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. bear — the animal
  3. board — to get on
  4. row — to paddle
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. pound — a weight
  7. march — music
  8. file — a line of people
  9. rest — a break
  10. file — a tool
  11. row — a line
  12. rest — what's left
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. bear — the animal
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. kid — to tease
  17. march — the month
  18. board — a committee
  19. march — the month
  20. kid — child
  21. file — a document
  22. rest — what's left
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. board — a flat piece

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