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

  1. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. saw — the tool
  3. present — a gift
  4. saw — the tool
  5. row — a line
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. tear — to rip
  8. tear — from crying
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. wind — moving air
  16. present — there
  17. row — to paddle
  18. last — to go on
  19. last — finally
  20. tear — from crying
  21. present — the time now
  22. last — final
  23. wind — moving air
  24. sharp — clever

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