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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — from crying
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. net — in sport
  8. track — a path
  9. tear — to rip
  10. track — a song
  11. net — after costs
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. current — of water
  15. row — to paddle
  16. current — electric
  17. kid — child
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. track — to keep track
  20. net — for catching
  21. bear — the animal
  22. bear — the animal
  23. current — happening now
  24. row — a line

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