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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. tear — from crying
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. land — a country
  5. face — to point toward
  6. hand — help
  7. land — to come down
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — to rip
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. face — part of the head
  13. stock — shares
  14. hand — in cards
  15. stock — goods
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. land — ground
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. file — a document
  21. perch — the fish
  22. file — a tool
  23. face — to confront
  24. file — a line of people

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