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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. cold — an illness
  4. key — for a lock
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. cold — not warm
  9. plane — a tool
  10. snap — to click
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. row — to paddle
  14. tear — to rip
  15. key — in music
  16. jam — a tight spot
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. row — a line
  19. tear — from crying
  20. key — the most important part
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. perch — the fish
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. row — a quarrel

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