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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 120 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 is an ace ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. land — a country
  3. fork — in a road
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. land — to come down
  6. tear — from crying
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — to rip
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. row — to paddle
  16. snap — to click
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. row — a line
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. land — ground

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