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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 116 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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. rush — hurry
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. tear — from crying
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. cold — not warm
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. board — to get on
  12. sharp — clever
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. cold — an illness
  16. stem — to come from
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. row — to paddle
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. row — a line
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. tear — from crying
  24. board — a committee

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