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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. row — a line
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. net — for catching
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. chest — of your body
  8. pitch — completely
  9. tear — to rip
  10. chair — a leader
  11. chest — a box
  12. rash — a series
  13. row — to paddle
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. tear — from crying
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. net — in sport
  18. rash — hasty
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. net — after costs
  22. chest — of your body
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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