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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. staff — employees
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. march — music
  6. march — the month
  7. hand — in cards
  8. staff — employees
  9. tear — from crying
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. tear — to rip
  12. march — the month
  13. row — to paddle
  14. tear — from crying
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. lean — thin
  17. staff — a stick
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. lean — to bend
  20. row — a line
  21. date — the fruit
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. date — on the calendar

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