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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. ball — a great time
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. tear — from crying
  6. face — part of the head
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. mine — for digging
  9. pop — to visit
  10. pop — soda
  11. object — an aim
  12. tear — from crying
  13. object — a thing
  14. ball — a dance
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. face — to confront
  17. row — to paddle
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. row — a line
  21. tear — to rip
  22. pop — music
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. face — to point toward

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