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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. spell — letters
  3. spell — magic
  4. tear — to rip
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bat — the animal
  10. spell — a short time
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. tear — from crying
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. tear — from crying
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. mine — for digging
  24. deal — to handle

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