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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. row — a line
  8. shower — to wash
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. cold — an illness
  11. branch — a division
  12. shower — rain
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — from crying
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. row — to paddle
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. cold — not warm

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