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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. lie — to recline
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. tear — to rip
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. drill — a practice
  9. saw — the tool
  10. wound — an injury
  11. tear — from crying
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. drill — the tool
  14. net — for catching
  15. spring — a coil
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. net — in sport
  18. spring — the season
  19. spring — of water
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. tear — from crying
  22. net — after costs
  23. wound — an injury
  24. saw — the tool

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