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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. chest — of your body
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. rock — music
  5. tear — from crying
  6. ball — a great time
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. chest — a box
  9. rock — a stone
  10. ball — a dance
  11. tear — from crying
  12. chest — of your body
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. row — a line
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. tear — to rip
  17. row — to paddle
  18. lash — a whip stroke

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