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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. cell — a phone
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. net — for catching
  5. face — to confront
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. wake — a trail
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. net — in sport
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. row — a line
  12. row — to paddle
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. face — to point toward
  16. net — after costs
  17. pound — a weight
  18. face — part of the head
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — from crying
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. cell — in biology
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. straw — a straw man

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