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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. drill — the tool
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. row — to paddle
  6. degree — from a university
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. drill — a practice
  10. mate — to breed
  11. degree — temperature
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. row — a line
  15. mate — a friend
  16. degree — an amount
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — from crying
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. drill — army training
  21. mate — a partner
  22. saw — the tool
  23. tear — to rip
  24. hand — help

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