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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. row — a line
  4. capital — a city
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. wound — an injury
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. lie — to recline
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — to trim
  13. bat — the animal
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. wound — an injury
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. content — the amount
  18. capital — money
  19. content — happy
  20. rush — hurry
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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