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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. row — a line
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — an illness
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. season — in sport
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. bulb — for light
  13. row — to paddle
  14. tear — from crying
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. wake — a trail
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. bulb — for light
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. season — of the year
  23. tear — to rip
  24. tear — from crying

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