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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 116 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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. tear — from crying
  4. staff — employees
  5. row — a line
  6. staff — a stick
  7. tear — from crying
  8. content — happy
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. face — part of the head
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. row — to paddle
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. prune — to trim
  15. content — the amount
  16. chair — a leader
  17. tear — to rip
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. face — to point toward
  20. face — to confront
  21. lean — to bend
  22. lean — thin
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. prune — to trim

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